/ 


LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


LINCOLN  MEMOIRS 


From  the  Log  Cabin  to 
the  White  House 


MARY   M.    HARRIS 


Copyright  1908  by  M.  M.  Harris 


PHILLIPS  BROS.,  PRINTERS 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL. 


feel    that    I    cannot   succeed 
without  the   Divine  bless- 
ing, and  on  the  Almighty  Being 
I  place  my  reliance  for  support. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 


To  the  colored  people'of  America  who  have  shown  a 
just  appreciation  of  their  opportunities  and  responsibili- 
ties, this  book  is  respectfully  dedicated. 

MARY  M.  HARRIS. 


510378 


LINCOLN. 


A  new  century  has  come,  since  Lincoln  gave  up  his  life 
for  his  country.  All  the  conditions  with  which  he  was 
familiar  have  changed.  America  has  become  a  world 
power,  with  all  the  responsibilities  that  the  term  implies. 

All  things  have  become  new.  The  bitter  anirnosities> 
extreme  partisanship  and  sectional  hatred  that  was  so 
long  a  part  of  public  life,  have  given  way  to  the  resist- 
less spirit  of  progress.  Those  who  were  once  bitter  foes, 
meet  to  day  in  the  world  of  business  as  friends.  Nor  is 
the  love  of  gain  the  only  incentive  to  this  new  relation- 
ship. 

Lincoln  has  won  for  himself  a  place  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  who  look  back  to  those  days,  darkened  by 
their  passions,  and  see  with  a  clearer  vision  the  greatness 
of  the  work  he  wrought. 

They  know  now  that  it  was  not  Lincoln's  war,  but 
their  own.  Time  has  proven  to  them  that  after  all  the 
great  leader  was  their  best  friend. 

Calmer  reasoning  has  convinced  his  critics  that  when 
Lincoln  became  president  he  put  aside  all  thought  of 
self  and  lived  only  for  his  stricken  country.  By  the  will 
of  the  people  he  became  the  head  of  the  nation,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  and  the  arbitrator 
of  eighty  millions  of  people  at  the  most  trying  period  of 
the  nation's  history. 

How  well  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office 
the  past  fifty  years  have  shown.  Lincoln  neither  sought 
nor  desired  the  presidency.  There  were  others,  he  said, 
better  fitted  for  that  exalted  station  than  he.  But  his 


6 

friends  and  admirers  thought  otherwise.  He  had  made 
the  race  for  Congress  with  Douglas,  but  at  the  end  of 
the  campaign  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  affairs 
when  each  day  but  added  to  the  soul  crushing  responsi- 
bilities of  those  in  power. 

With  reluctance  he  faced  a  future  where  unknown 
dangers  lurked  at  every  turn.  Overzealous  friends 
argued  ''peace  at  any  price,"  while  those  who  opposed 
him,  watchd  with  unsleeping  vigilance  for  the  first  sign 
of  breakdown. 

To  those  who  knew  him  it  was  plain  that  to  him  the 
long,  bloody  war  was  a  horror  unspeakable.  His  heart 
went  out  to  the  brave  men,  north  and  south,  who  were 
willing  to  die  for  a  principle. 

In  spirit  he  marched  beside  them.  At  night  his  sad 
face  gazed  at  them  from  out  the  smoke  of  their  camp 
fires.  He,  too,  was  a  soldier;  and  he  sympathized  with 
them  in  their  hardships  and  privations.  It  must  have 
eased  somewhat  his  awful  burden  when  he  heard  them 
singing  as  they  tramped  through  the  valleys  and  forests, 
over  the  mountains  and  rivers,  "we  are  coining  Father 
Abraham,  a  hundred  thousand  strong." 

Though  he  prayed  that  "this  awful  scourge  of  war 
might  quickly  pass  away,"  he  showed  no  sign  of  weak- 
ness, but  with  the  patience  that  characterized  him,  waited 
for  the  end.  Perhaps  he  heard  the  same  voice  that  spoke 
to  Moses  in  the  wilderness  telling  him  to  "go  forward." 

Freedom  for  the  slaves  was  a  dream  dear  to  the  heart 
of  Lincoln,  but  he  put  even  that  aside  as  he  plead  with 
them  "come  back,  come  back."  He  believed  that  every 
man,  regardless  of  race,  color  or  creed,  had  a  God-given 
right  to  liberty  and  happiness. 

But  he  would  not  plunge  the  country  into  war  nor  pro- 
long the  struggle  a  single  day  to  gain  his  ends.  He  felt 
that  in  His  own  time  the  Lord  would  answer  the  fervent 
prayers  that  arose  from  these  lowly  people. 


Lincoln  had  faith  in  the  negro.  He  believed  that  the 
colored  man  would  work  without  a  master.  He  knew  that 
the  habits  of  two  hundred  years  would  not  be  quickly  set 
aside;  that  the  characteristics  that  had  made  a  faithful 
servant  would  make  a  good  soldier,  a  good  citizen. 

We  might  quote  from  Mr.  Greeley 's  "American  Con- 
flict," which  describes  at  length  the  instant  change  that 
took  place  among  the  freedmen.  "From  the  very  first," 
Mr.  Greeley  says,  "it  was  an  evident  fact  that  the  black 
man  would  not  become  a  public  burden.  Their  first 
thought,  strange  at  it  may  seem,  was  to  provide  schools 
for  their  children.  They  showed  a  spirit  of  thrift  and 
progress  that  has  astonished  the  whole  world. 

They  seemed  to  realize  that  they  must  make  up  for 
lost  time.  In  their  two  hundred  years  of  close  associa- 
tion with  the  white  race  they  had  learned  much  that  was 
good,  and  when  the  time  came  they  were  ready  to  put 
into  practice  the  knowledge  thus  gained.  Another  char- 
acteristic that  gave  hope  to  their  friends  was,  they  har- 
bored no  spirit  of  ill  will  against  those  who  had  wronged 
them. 

They  put  the  past  behind  them  with  the  determination 
to  forget  slavery  and  all  its  associations.  Mr.  Greeley 
says,  "they  showed  no  vengeful  or  retaliatory  spirit.  On 
the  contrary,  they  seemed  to  feel  themselves  obligated  to 
work  and  care  for  the  dead  master's  widow  and  children 
who,  by  the  death  of  father  and  husband  and  the  loss  of 
the  slaves,  were  left  helpless  and  destitute.  Hundreds  of 
these  would  have  perished  except  for  the  loyal  servants 
that  refused  freedom  that  would  separate  them  from 
those  who  needed  them  so  sorely.  Thus  was  laid  forever 
the  ghost  that  had  haunted  the  white  man's  pillows.  A 
"negro  uprising"  there  never  was  at  any  time,  dangej 
to  the  people  of  the  south  from  the  slaves. 

Some  one  has  written  a  story  that  fully  illustrates  the 
real  condition  between  the  races  in  the  south  that  has 
never  existed  anywhere  else  before  and  never  will  again. 


8 

Two  men,  master  and  slave,  had  grown  up  together.  Each 
was  without  family  ties  and  each  was  dependent  on  the 
other.  When  the  white  man  was  down  with  the  fever, 
the  colored  man  was  kept  on  the  go,  day  and  night ;  noth- 
ing pleased  the  master,  but  after  a  time  the  sick  man  re- 
covered and  the  black  man  took  the  fever  and  now  it  was 
the  master's  turn  to  bring  water  from  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  well;  and  turn  the  pillows  forty  times  a 
day. 

The  colored  man  would  chuckle  gleefully  and  say,  "De 
bottom  rail  on  top  at  las'."  When  both  were  well  and 
summer  had  come  with  its  long  sunny  days,  there  might 
have  been  seen  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  two  figures 
stealing  away  from  the  "big  house."  It  was  the  master 
and  his  slave  running  away  together. 

Of  course,  there  are  two  sides  to  every  picture,  and 
Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  has  shown  the  world  both  sides. 
Life  at  the  St.  Glair's  was  a  perpetual  picnic.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  the  Legree  type  of  slave  owner  that 
made  the  slave  trade  a  horror  unspeakable;  a  condition 
that  not  even  Dante  could  portray. 

In  his  "Man  with  the  Hoe,"  Mr.  Markham  has  shown 
what  centuries  of  toil,  poverty  and  ignorance  will  do  by 
way  of  reducing  man  to  the  level  of  the  brutes.  But  this 
was  not  true  of  the  emancipated  slaves.  The  first  school 
privileges  enjoyed  by  the  poor  whites  of  the  south  was 
secured  to  them  by  the  freedmen.  The  greatest  educator 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  was  born  a  slave. 

In  every  community  there  are  honest,  upright  colored 
citizens.  On  the  tax  lists,  on  the  census  returns  the  names 
of  colored  people  represent  millions  of  dollars.  All  these 
go  to  show  that  Lincoln's  faith  and  hope  in  the  colored 
man  was  not  without  foundation.  It  shows,  too,  that  the 
colored  people  have  proven  themselves  able  to  fend  for 
themselves.  They  have  not  proven  a  burden,  but  on  the 
contrary,  have  added  millions  to  the  nation's  wealth. 


The  colored  people  have  advanced  faster  and  have 
made  greater  progress  than  any  race  under  similar  con- 
ditions. Only  two  generatians  from  slavery,  yet  they 
are  far  in  advance  of  other  alien  people.  In  competitive 
examinations,  they  more  than  hold  their  own.  In  the 
professions  they  are  every  where  represented,  while  in 
the  industrial  field  they  have  proven  far  more  active  and 
enterprising  than  the  white  man  of  the  same  class.  To 
sum  up  the  negro  as  he  is  today,  fifty  years  after  free- 
dom, he  stands  on  a  firm  foundation  of  his  own  building. 
He  is  the  proud  possessor  of  houses  and  lands,  money  and 
mules.  He  is  a  taxpayer  and  law  maker.  He  is  in  every 
way  a  part  of  the  great  commonwealth  of  America. 

In  freeing  the  slaves  Mr.  Lincoln  did  the  south  a 
greater  favor  than  they  realize  even  yet.  The  slave  popu- 
lation had  outgrown  its  territory.  The  north  refused  to 
admit  them;  so  that  what  was  already  a  great  problem 
would  soon  have  become  a  greater  one.  Then,  again, 
under  free  labor  conditions,  the  south  has  enjoyed  greater 
prosperity  than  would  ever  have  been  possible  under  the 
old  order  of  things.  The  people  are  no  longer  divided 
by  party  lines.  When  they  met  at  Lincoln's  tomb  on  the 
one  hundredth  anniversary  of  his  birth  they  thought  of 
him  only  as  the  great  benefactor  of  mankind;  the  man 
who  had  saved  his  country  and  his  flag;  who  had  freed 
two  races;  one  from  the  galling  chains  of  slavery,  the 
other  from  an  environment  no  less  degrading. 

Those  who  look  back  at  those  trying  times  know  now 
whatever  mistakes  they  might  have  made  then,  that  he 
acted  for  the  best.  In  taking  the  oath  of  office  he  became 
president  of  the  south  as  well  as  the  north  and  that  in 
bringing  them  back  into  the  Union  he  was  only  doing  the 
work  he  had  been  elected  to  do. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  he  gave  every  man  justice.  For  this 
the  world  honors  him.  People  think  that  for  the  smallest 
favor  they  should  be  rewarded,  but  Lincoln  neither  looked 


10 

for  or  expected  reward,  other  than  the  success  of  his 
efforts. 

With  the  passing  of  slavery,  America  parted  forever 
with  things  primeval.  Up  to  that  time  the  forms  of 
government  established  by  the  colonists  had  been  suffi- 
cient, but  the  time  had  come  for  a  change.  The  first  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century  marked  the  end  of  the  forma- 
tive period  in  American  history.  Slavery  had  been  an 
incubus  that  sapped  the  energy  of  the  people.  It  hung 
over  the  land  like  a  pall.  It  dwarfed,  crippled  and  blinded 
its  friends  and  its  foes. 

The  people  of  America  who  for  two  hundred  years  had 
lived  in  a  land  "half  free,  half  slave,"  had  been  like  a 
man  who  starts  to  run  a  race  with  one  foot  shackled. 
That  all  absorbing  question,  "slavery  or  freedom,"  was 
ever  present.  It  sat  a  grim  spector  at  their  feasts,  it 
haunted  their  dreams  at  night.  A  malign  influence  that 
finally  drove  men  forth  to  drench  the  land  with  blood,  to 
burn  and  destroy.  War  was  the  extreme  sacrifice  offered 
by  the  American  people  to  atone  for  the  sin  of  slavery. 
And  Lincoln  ended  the  solemn  ceremony  by  laying  his 
own  body  on  the  funeral  pyre,  that  his  country  might  be 
born  again  to  better  things,  and  God  has  answered  his 
prayer  a  thousand  fold. 

Those  who  kept  the  siege  before  the  gates  of  Troy  of- 
fered their  lives  to  gain  the  favor  of  the  gods.  But  they 
were  myths.  They  lived  only  in  the  songs  of  the  poets 
or  the  declamatory  efforts  of  our  school  days.  Lincoln 
the  real  hero,  came  to  us  from  the  infinite  spaces  where 
God  dwells,  crowned  with  the  wisdom  of  the  ages,  and 
able  to  see  beyond  the  confines  of  his  own  time  and  realize 
that  somewhere  in  the  future  the  north  and  the  south 
would  bury  forever  old  differences  and  antagonisms  and 
meet  again,  a  reunited  people,  in  perfect  reconciliation. 

Even  now  the  people  are  beginning  to  know  the  emanci- 
pator and  to  realize  what  his  life  and  his  death  means  to 
the  world.  But  a  more  gifted  pen  than  mine  shall  tell 
the  real  storv  of  Lincoln.  M.  M.  HARRIS. 


11 


Booth,  the  Great  Actor  of  His  Day. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  LINCOLN'S  SPEECHES 

The  following  Speeches  and  Poems 
are  used  by  courtesy  of  Mr. 
Oldroyd,  and  are  taken  from  his 
"Album  Immortelles." 


13 


LINCOLN'S  FIRST  POLITICAL  ADDRESS  WHEN 
A  CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  ILLINOIS  LEGIS- 
LATURE IN  1832. 

"Gentlemen,  fellow  citizens,  I  presume  you  know  who 
I  am,  I  am  humble  Abraham  Lincoln,  I  have  been  soli- 
cited by  many  friends  to  become  a  candidate  for  the 
Legislature.  My  politics  can  be  briefly  stated.  I  am  in 
favor  of  the  internal  improvement  system,  and  a  high 
protective  tariff.  Those  are  my  sentiments  and  political 
principles.  If  elected,  I  shall  be  thankful ;  if  not,  it  will 
be  all  the  same." 


EXTRACT   FROM   MR.   LINCOLN'S    SPEECH   AT 
GALESBURG,  ILLINOIS,  OCTOBER  7,  1858. 

"I  have  all  the  while  maintained  that  in  so  far  as  it 
should  be  insisted  that  there  was  an  equality  between  the 
white  and  black  races  that  should  produce  a  perfect  social 
and  political  equality,  it  was  an  impossibility.  This  you 
have  seen  in  my  printed  speeches,  and  with  it  I  have  said 
that  in  their  right  to  "life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness,"  as  proclaimed  in  that  Declaration,  the  in- 
ferior races  are  our  equals.  And  these  declarations  I 
have  constantly  made  in  reference  to  the  abstract  moral 
question,  to  contemplate  and  consider  when  we  are  legis- 
lating about  any  new  country  which  is  not  already  cursed 
with  the  actual  present  of  evil— slavery.  I  have  never 
manifested  any  impatience  with  the  necessities  that 
spring  from  the  actual  presence  of  black  people 
among  us,  and  the  actual  existence  of  slavery  among  us, 
where  it  does  already  exist,  but  I  have  insisted  that,  in 


14 


THE  LINCOLN  FAMILY. 

This  picture  is  familiar  to  most  people.  It  shows  Lincoln  as 
his  old  friends  and  neighbors  knew  him,  in  his  home  in  Spring- 
field. 

One  may  well  imagine  the  love  and  pride  the  great  emanci- 
pator took  in  his  three  boys,  Robert,  William  and  Thomas.  Had 
they  all  lived  to  do  their  life  work,  history  would  have  read 
different  to  what  it  reads  today. 


15 

legislating  for  new  countries,  where  it  does  not  exist, 
there  is  no  just  rule,  other  than  that  of  moral  and  abstract 
right.  With  reference  to  those  new  countries,  those 
maxims  as  to  the  right  of  a  people  to  "life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness"  were  the  just  rules  to  be  con- 
stantly referred  to.  There  is  no  misunderstanding  this 
except  by  men  interested  to  misunderstand  it.  I  take  it 
that  I  have  to  address  an  intelligent  and  reading  com- 
munity, who  will  pursue  what  I  say,  weigh  it  and  then 
judge  whether  I  advance  improper  or  unsound  views,  or 
whether  I  advance  hypocritical  and  deceptive  and  con- 
trary views  in  different  portions  of  the  country.  I  be- 
leive  myself  to  be  guilty  of  no  such  thing  as  the  latter, 
though,  of  course,  I  can  not  claim  that  I  am  entirely  free 
from  all  error  in  the  opinions  I  advance. 

I  have  said  once  before,  and  I  will  repeat  it  now,  that 
Mr.  Clay,  when  he  was  once  answering  an  objection  to 
the  colonization  society,  that  ultimate  emancipation  of 
the  slaves,  said  that  "  those  who  would  repress  all  ten- 
dencies to  liberty  and  ultimate  emancipation,  must  do 
more  than  put  down  the  benevolent  efforts  of  the  coloni- 
zation society— they  must  go  back  to  the  era  of  our 
liberty  and  independence,  and  muzzle  the  cannon  that 
thunders  its  annual  joyous  return— they  must  blot  out 
the  moral  light  around  us — they  must  penetrate  the  hu- 
man soul  and  eradicate  the  light  of  reason,  and  the  love 
of  liberty"  and  I  do  think— I  repeat,  though  I  said  it  on 
a  former  occasion  that  Judge  Douglass  and  whoever,  like 
him,  teaches  that  the  negro  has  no  share,  humble  though 
it  may  be,  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  so  far 
as  in  him  lies,  muzzling  the  cannon  that  thunders  its  an- 
nual joyous  returns;  that  he  is  blowing  out  the  moral 
lights  around  us,  when  he  contends  that  whoever  wants 
slaves  has  a  right  to  hold  them;  that  he  is  penetrating 
so  far  as  lies  in  his  power,  the  human  soul,  and  eradicat- 
ing the  right  of  reason  and  love  of  liberty,  when  he  is  in 
every  possible  way  preparing  the  public  mind,  by  his 


16 

vast  influence,  for  making  the  institution  of  slavery  per- 
petual and  national. 

And  now,  it  only  remains  for  me  to  say  that  it  is  a  very 
grave  question  for  the  people  of  this  Union  to  consider 
whether,  in  view  of  this  fact,  that  this  slavery  questipn 
has  been  the  only  one  that  has  ever  advanced  our  Repub- 
lican institutions— the  only  one  that  has  ever  threatened 
or  menaced  a  dissolution  of  the  Union— that  has  ever  dis- 
turbed us  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  us  fear  for  the  per- 
petuity of  our  liberty— in  view  of  these  facts,  I  think  it 
is  an  exceedingly  interesting  and  important  question  for 
this  people  to  consider  whether  we  shall  engage  in  the 
policy  of  acquiring  additional  territory,  disregarding  al- 
together from  our  consideration,  while  obtaining  new  ter- 
ritory, the  question  how  it  may  effect  us  in  regard  to  this, 
the  only  endangering  element  to  our  liberties  and  national 
greatness.  The  Judge's  view  has  been  expressed;  I,  in 
my  answer  to  his  question,  have  expressed  mine.  .1  think 
it  will  become  an  important  and  practical  question.  Our 
views  are  before  the  public.  I  am  willing  and  anxious 
that  they  should  consider  them  fully— that  they  should 
turn  it  about  and  consider  the  importance  of  the  ques- 
tion and  arrive  at  a  just  conclusion  as  to  whether  it  is 
or  is  not  wise  in  the  people  of  this  Union,  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  new  territory,  to  consider  whether  it  will  add  to 
the  disturbance  that  is  existing  among  us— whether  it 
will  add  to  the  one  only  danger  that  has  ever  threatened 
the  perpetuity  of  the  Union,  or  of  our  own  liberties. 

I  think  it  is  extremely  important  that  they  shall  decide 
and  rightly  decide  that  that  question  before  entering  that 
nolicv. 


EXTRACT    FROM   MR.   LINCOLN'S    SPEECH   AT 

QUINGY,  ILLINOIS,  OCTOBER  13,  1858. 
I  was  aware,  when  it    was    first    agreed    that   Judge 
Douglas  and  I  were  to  have  these  seven  joint  discussions, 
that  they  were  the  successive  acts  of  a  drama— perhaps 


17 

T  should  say,  to  be  enacted  not  merely  in  the  face  of 
audiences  like  this,  but  in  the  face  of  the  nation,  and  to 
some  extent,  by  my  relation  to  .him,  and  not  from  any- 
thing in  myself,  in  the  face  of  the  world— and  I  am 
anxious  that  they  should  be  conducted  with  dignity  and 
in  good  temper,  which  would  be  befitting  the  vast  audi- 
ences before  which  it  was  conducted.  I  was  not  entirely 
sure  that  I  should  be  able  to  hold  my  own  with  him,  but 
T  at  least  had  the  purpose  made  to  do  as  well  as  I  could 
upon  him;  and  now  I  say  that  I  will  not  be  the  first  to 
cry  "hold."  I  think  it  originated  with  the  Judge,  and 
when  he  quits  I  probably  will.  But  I  shall  not  ask  any 
favors  at  all.  He  asks  me,  or  he  asks  the  audiences,  if 
I  wish  to  push  this  matter  to  the  point  of  personal  diffi- 
culty? I.  tell  him,no.  He  did  not  make  a  mistake,  in 
one  of  his  early  speeches,  when  he  called  me  an  amiable 
man,  though  perhops  he  did  when  he  called  me  an  "in- 
telligent" man.  It  really  hurts  me  very  much  to  suppose 
that  I  have  wronged  anybody  on  earth.  I  again  tell  him 
no.  T  very  much  prefer,  when  this  canvas  shall  be  over, 
however  it  may  result,  that  we  at  least  part  without  any 
bitter  recollections  of  personal  difficulties. 

We  have  in  this  nation  this  element  of  domestic  slavery. 
Tt  is  a  matter  of  absolute  certainty  that  it  is  a  disturbing 
element.  It  is  the  opinion  of  all  the  great  men  who  have 
expressed  an  opinion  upon  it  that  it  is  a  dangerous  ele- 
ment. We  keep  up  a  controversy  in  regard  to  it.  That 
controversy  necessarily  springs  from  differences  of 
opinion,  an  dif  we  can  learn  exactly— can  reduce  to  the 
lowest  elements— what  that  difference  of  opinion  is  we, 
perhaps,  shall  be  better  prepared  for  discussing  the  dif- 
ferent system  of  policy  that  we  would  propose  in  regard 
to  that  disturbing  element.  I  suggest  that  the  difference 
of  opinion,  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms,  is  no  other  than 
the  difference  between  the  men  who  think  slavery  is  a 
wrong  and  those  who  do  not  think  it  wrong.  We  think 
it  is  a  wrong  not  confining  itself  merely  to  the  persons 


18 

or  the  states  where  it  exists,  but  that  it  is  a  wrong  in  its 
tendency,  to  say  the  least,  that  extends  itself  to  the 
existence  of  the  whole  nation.  Because  we  think  it  wrong 
we  propose  a  course  of  policy  that  shall  deal  with  it  as  a 
wrong.  We  deal  with  it  as  with  any  other  wrong,  in  so 
far  as  we  can  prevent  its  growing  any  larger,  and  so  deal 
with  it  that  in  the  run  of  time  there  may  be  some  promise 
of  an  end  to  it.  We  have  a  due  regard  to  the  actual 
presence  of  it  among  us  and  the  difficulties  of  geeting  rid 
of  it  in  any  satisfactory  way,  and  all  the  constitutional 
obligations  thrown  about  it.  I  suppose  that  in  reference 
both  to  its  actual  existence  in  the  nation  and  to  our 
constitutional  obligations,  we  have  no  right  at  all  to  dis- 
turb it  in  the  states  where  it  existes,  and  we  profess  that 
we  have  no  more  inclination  to  disturb  it  than  we  have 
the  right  to  do  it.  We  go  farther  than  that,  we  don't 
propose  to  disturb  it  where,  in  one  instance,  we  think  the 
constitution  would  permit  us.  We  think  the  constitution 
would  permit  us  to  disturb  it  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Still,  we  do  not  propose  to  do  that,  unless  it  should  be  in 
terms  which  I  don't  suppose  the  nation  is  very  likely 
soon  to  agree  to— the  terms  of  making  the  emancipation 
gradual  and  compensating  the  un-willing  owners.  Where 
we  suppose  we  have  the  constitutional  right,  we  restrain 
ourselves  in  reference  to  the  actual  existence  of  the  in- 
stitution and  the  difficulties  thrown  about  it.  We  also 
oppose  it  as  an  evil  so  far  as  it  seeks  to  spread  itself. 
We  insist  on  the  policy  that  shall  restrict  it  to  its  present 
limits.  We  don't  suppose  that  in  doing  this  we  violate 
anything  due  to  the  actual  presence  of  the  institution,  or 
anything  due  to  the  constitutional  guaranties  thrown 
around  it. 


19 


20 

SPEECH  BEFORE  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  PENN- 
SYLVANIA, AT  HARRISBURG,  FEBRUARY 

22,  1861. 

I  have  already  gone  through  one  exceedingly  interest- 
ing scene  this  morning,  in  the  ceremonies  at  Philadelphia. 
Under  the  high  conduct  of  gentlemen  there  I  was  for  the 
first  time  allowed  the  privilege  of  standing  in  old  Inde- 
pendence Hall,  to  have  a  few  words  addressed  to  me 
there,  and  opening  up  to  me  an  opportunity  of  express- 
ing, with  much  regret,  that  I  had  not  more  time  to  ex- 
press something  of  my  own  feelings,  excited  by  the  oc- 
casion, somewhat  to  harmonize  and  give  shape  to  the  feel- 
ings that  had  been  really  the  feelings  of  my  whole  life. 
Besides  this,  our  friends  there  had  provided  a  magnifi- 
cent flag  of  our  country;  they  had  arranged  so  that  I  was 
given  the  honor  of  raising  it  to  the  head  of  the  staff.  And, 
when  it  went  up  I  was  pleased  that  it  went  to  its  place 
by  the  strength  of  my  own  feeble  arm,  when,  according 
to  the  arrangements,  the  cord  was  pulled,  and  it  floated 
gloriously  to  the  wind,  without  an  accident,  in  the  light, 
glowing  sunshine  of  the  morning,  I  could  not  help  hoping 
that  there  was  in  the  entire  success  of  the  beautiful  cere- 
mony at  least  something  of  an  omen  of  what  is  to  come. 
How  could  I  help  feeling,  then,  as  I  often  have  felt!  In 
the  whole  of  that  proceeding  I  was  a  very  humble  instru- 
ment, I  had  not  provided  the  flag,  I  had  not  made  the 
arrangements  for  elevating  it  to  its  place ;  I  had  applied 
but  a  very  small  portion  of  my  feeble  strength  in  raising 
it.  In  the  whole  transaction  I  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
people  who  had  arranged  it,  and,  if  I  can  have  the  same 
generous  co-operation  of  the  people  of  the  nation.  I  think 
the  flag  of  our  country  may  yet  be  kept  flaunting  glor- 
iously. It  is  not  with  any  pleasure  that  I  contemplate 
the  possibility  that  a  necessity  may  arise  in  this  country 
for  the  use  of  the  military  arm.  While  I  am  exceedingly 
gratified  to  see  the  manifestation  upon  your  streets  of 
your  military  force  here  and  exceedingly  gratified  at  your 


promise  here  to  use  that  force  upon  a  proper  emer- 
gency—while I  make  these  acknowledgements  I  desire 
to  repeat,  in  order  to  preclude  any  possible  misconstruc- 
tion, that  I  do  most  sincerely  hope  that  we  shall  ha.ve  no 
use  for  them.  Most  especially  never  to  shed  fraternal 
blood.  1  promise  that,  so  far  as  I  may  have  wisdom  to 
direct,  if  so  painful  a  result  in  anywise  be  brought  about, 
it  shall  be  through  no  fault  of  mine. 


SPEECH  AT  ALTON,  ILLINOIS,  OCTOBER  15,  1858. 

On  this  subject  of  treating  slavery  as  a  wrong,  and 
limiting  its  spread,  le  tme  say  a  word.  Has  anything 
ever  threatened  the  existence  of  this  Union  save  and 
except  this  very  institution  of  slavery?  What  is  it  that 
we  hold  most  dear  among  us  ?  Our  own  liberty  and  pros- 
perty.  What  has  ever  threatened  our  liberty  and  pros- 
perity, save  and  except  this  institution  of  slavery?  If 
this  is  true,  how  do  you  propose  to  improve  the  condition 
of  things  by  enlarging  slavery?  By  spreading  it  out  and 
making  it  bigger?  You  may  have  a  wen  or  cancer  upon 
your  person,  and  not  be  able  to  cut  it  out  lest  you  bleed 
to  death,  but  surely  it  is  no  way  to  cure  it  to  ingraft  it 
and  spread  it  over  your  whole  body— that  is  no  proper 
way  of  treating  what  you  regard  a  wrong.  You  see,  this 
peaceful  wray  of  dealing  with  it  as  a  wrong— restricting 
the  spread  of  it,  and  not  allowing  it  to  go  into  new  coun- 
tries where  it  has  not  already  existed  that  is  the  peace- 
ful way,  the  old-fashioned  way,  the  way  in  which  the 
fathers  themselves  set  us  the  example. 

"Is  slavery  wrong?'  That  is  the  real  issue.  That  is 
the  issue  that  will  continue  in  this  country,  when  these 
poor  tongues  of  Judge  Douglas  and  myself  shall  be 
silent.  It  is  the  eternal  struggle  between  these  two  prin- 
ciples—right and  wrong— throughout  the  wor'd.  They 
are  two  principles  that  have  stood  face  to  face  from  the 
beginning  of  time,and  will  ever  continue  to  struggle. 


22 

The  one  is  the  common  right  of  humanity,  and  the  other, 
the  divine  right  of  kings.  It  is  the  same  principle  in 
whatever  shape  it  developes  itself.  It  is  the  same  spirit 
that  says,  "You  work  and  toil  and  earn  bread,  and  I'll 
eat  it. ' '  No  matter  in  what  shape  it  comes,  whether  from 
the  mouth  of  a  king,  who  seeks  to  bestride  the  people  of 
his  own  nation  and  live  by  the  fruit  of  their  labor,  or 
from  one  race  of  men  as  an  apology  for  enslaving  an- 
other race,  it  is  the  same  tyrannical  principle. 

I  do  not  claim,  gentlemen,  to  be  unselfish;  I  do  not  pre- 
tend that  I  would  not  like  to  go  to  the  United  States 
Senate;  I  make  no  such  hypocritical  pretense;  but  I  do 
say  to  you,  that  in  this  mighty  issue,  it  is  nothing  to  the 
mass  of  people  of  the  nation  whether  or  not  Judge  Doug- 
las or  myself  shall  ever  be  heard  of  after  this  night,  it 
ma  ybe  a  trifle  to  either  of  us,  but  in  connection  with  this 
mighty  question,  upon  which  hangs  the  destinies  of  the 
nations,  perhaps,  it  is  absolutely  nothing. 


FROM  MR.  LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  AT  COLUMBUS, 
OHIO,  SEPTEMBER,  1859. 

Public  opinion  in  this  country  is  everything.  In  a  na- 
tion like  ours  this  popular  sovereignty  and  squatter  sov- 
ereignty have  already  wrought  a  change  in  the  public 
mind  to  the  extent  I  have  stated.  There  is  no  man  in  this 
crowd  who  can  contradict  it.  Now,  if  you  are  opposed 
to  slavery  honestly,  as  much  as  anybody,  I  ask  you  to 
note  that  fact  and  the  like  of  which  is  to  follow  to  be 
plastered  on,  layer  after  layer,  until  very  soon  you  are 
prepared  to  deal  with  the  negro  everywhere  as  with  the 
brute.  If  public  sentiment  has  not  been  debauched  al- 
ready to  this  point,  a  new  turn  of  the  screw  in  that  di- 
rection is  all  that  is  wanting;  and  this  is  constantly  being 
done  by  the  teachers  of  this  insidious  popular  sovereign- 
ty. You  need  but  one  or  two  turns  further  until  your 
minds,  now  ripening  under  these  teachings,  will  be  ready 


23 

for  all  these  things,  and  you  will  receive  and  support  or 
submit  to  the  slave  trade,  revived  with  all  its  horrors, 
a  slave  code  enforced  in  our  territories,  and  a  new  Dred 
Scott  decision  to  bring  slavery  up  into  the  very  heart  of 
the  free  north.  This,  I  must  say,  is  but  carrying  out 
those  words  prophetically  spoken  by  Mr.  Clay,  many, 
many  years  ago— I  believe  more  than  thirty  years — when 
he  told  his  audience  that  if  they  would  repress  all  ten- 
dencies to  liberty  and  ultimate  emancipation,  they  must 
go  back  to  the  era  of  our  in  dependence  and  muzzle  the 
cannon  which  thunders  its  annual  joyous  return  on  the 
Fourth  of  July;  they  must  blow  out  the  moral  lights 
around  us;  they  must  penetrate  the  human  soul  and 
eradicate  the  love  of  liberty;  but  until  they  did  these 
things,  and  others  eloquently  enumerated  by  him,  they 
could  not  repress  all  tendencies  to  ultimate  emancipation. 
I  ask  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  a  pre-eminent  degree 
these  popular  sovereigns  are  at  this  work,  blowing  out 
the  moral  lights  around  us,  teaching  that  the  negro  is  no 
longer  a  man,  but  a  brute;  that  the  Declaration  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  him;  that  he  ranks  with  the  crocidile  and 
the  reptile;  that  man  with  body  and  soul,  is  a  matter  of 
dollars  and  cents. 


LINCOLN  BEADING  THE  EMANCIPATION 
LAMATION  TO  HIS  CABINET,  SEPT.  22. 

Gentlemen— I  have,  as  you  are  aware,  thought  a  great 
deal  about  the  relation  of  this  war  to  slavery,  and  you 
will  remember  that  several  weeks  ago  I  read  to  you  an 
order  I  had  prepared  upon  the  subject,  which  on  account 
of  objections  made  by  some  of  you,  was  not  issued.  Ever 
since  then  my  mind  has  been  much  occupied  with  this 
subject,  and  I  have  thought  all  along  that  the  time  for 
acting  on  it  might  probably  come.  I  think  the  time  has 
come  now.  Iwish  it  was  a  better  time.  I  wish  that  we 
were  in  a  better  condition.  The  action  of  the  army 


24 

against  the  rebels  has  not  been  quite  what  I  should  have 
best  liked,  but  they  have  been  driven  out  of  Maryland, 
and  Pennsylvania  is  no  longer  in  danger  of  invasion. 
.  When  the  rebel  array  was  at  Frederick,  I  determined 
as  soon  as  it  should  be  driven  out  of  Maryland  to  issue 
a  proclamation  of  emancipation,  such  as  I  thought  most 
likely  to  be  useful.  I  said  nothing  to  any  one,  but  I  made 
a  promise  to  myself  and  (hesitating  a  little)  to  my 
Maker.  The  rebel  army  is  now  driven  out,  and  I  am 
going  to  fulfill  that  promise.  I  have  got  you  together  to 
hear  what  1  have  written  down.  I  do  not  wish  you  to 
advise  about  the  main  matter  for  that  I  have  determined 
myself.  This,  I  say,  without  intending  anything  but  re- 
spect for  any  one  of  you.  But  I  already  know  the  views 
of  each  of  you  on  this  question.  They  have  been  hereto- 
fore expressed,  and  T  have  considered  them  as  thoroughly 
and  carefully  as  I  can.  What  I  have  written  is  that  which 
my  reflections  have  determined  me  to  say.  If  there  is 
anything  in  the  expressions  I  use,  or  in  any  minor  metter, 
which  any  one  of  you  think  had  best  be  changed,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  receive  your  suggestions.  One  other  observa- 
tion I  will  make.  I  know  very  well  that  many  others 
might,  in  this  matter,  as  in  others,  do  better  than  I  can, 
and  if  I  was  satisfied  that  the  public  confidence  was  more 
fully  possessed  by  any  one  of  them  than  by  me,  and 
knew  of  any  constitutional  way  in  which  he  could  be  put 
in  my  place,  he  could  have  it.  I  would  gladly  yield  to  him. 
But  though  I  believe  T  have  not  so  much  of  the  confidence 
of  the  peopel  as  I  had  some  time  ago,  I  do  not  know  that, 
all  things  considered,  another  person  has  more;  and, 
however  this  may  be,  there  is  no  way  in  which  I  can 
have  any  other  man  put  where  I  am.  I  am  here;  I  must 
do  the  best  I  can,  and  bear  the  responsibility  of  taking 
the  course  which  T  feel  I  ought  to  take. 


25 


-  . 
*•  o 
H  2 


u  a 

la 


J  s  o 

oo.g 


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•-   tg 


03  a 

Hg 


26 

EMANCIPATION.  PROCLAMATION,   JANUARY    1, 

1863. 

Whereas,  on  the  22d  day  of  September,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord,  1862,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  containing,  among  other 
things,  the  following,  to-wit:  That,  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  1863,  all  persons  held  as  slaves,  within  any 
state  or  designated  part  of  a  state,  the  people  whereof 
shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall 
be  thenceforth  and  forever  free,  and  the  executive 
government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military 
and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain 
the  freedom  of  such  persons;  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts 
to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  effort 
they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom,  that  the  execu- 
tive will,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  aforesaid,  issue  a 
proclamation,  designating  states  and  parts  of  states,  if 
any,  in  which  the  people  therein,  respectively,  shall  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and  the  fact  that  any 
state  or  the  people  thereof  shall,  on  that  day,  be  in  good 
faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
by  members  chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  ma- 
jority of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  states  shall  have 
participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  countervail- 
ing testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such 
states  and  the  people  thereof  are  not  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  States. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln;  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  cirtue  of  the  power  vested  in  me  as 
commauder-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  in  a  time  of 
actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  as  a  fit  and  necessary 
war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this 
first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1863.  and  in 
accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed 
for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  date  of 
the  first  above  mentioned  order,  designate  as  the  states 


27 

and  parts  of  states  therein,  the  people  whereof,  respec- 
tively, are  this  day  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States, 
the  following,  to-wit:  Arkansas,  Texas  and  Louisiana 
(except  the  parishes  of  St.  Bernard,  Plaquemine,  Jeffer- 
son, St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James,  Ascension,  Assump- 
tion, Terrebome,  La  Fourche,  St.  Mary,  St.  Martin  and 
Orleans,  including  the  city  of  New  Orleans),  Mississippi, 
Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North  Caro- 
lina and  Virginia  (except  the  forty-eight  counties  desig- 
nated as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkley, 
Accomac,  North  Hampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Prin- 
cess Anne  and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk 
and  Portsmouth),  which  excepted  parts  are  for  the 
present  left  precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not 
issued;  and  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid.  I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as 
slaves  within  designated  states,  or  parts  of  states,  are, 
and  henceforward  shall  be  free,  and  that  the  executive 
government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military 
and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain 
the  freedom  of  the  said  persons ;  and  I  hereby  enjoin 
upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free,  to  abstain  from  all 
violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defense,  and  I  will 
recommend  to  them  that,  in  all  cases  where  allowed,  they 
labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages;  and  I  further  de- 
clare and  make  known  that  such  persons  of  suitable  con- 
ditions will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of  the 
United  States,  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations  and 
other  places;  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  ser- 
vice. And  upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of 
justice,  warranted  by  the  constitution  upon  military 
necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind. 
And  the  gracionus  favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  witness  whereof  T  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 


28 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  Janu- 
ary, in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1863,  and  of  the  Indepen- 
dence of  the  United  States  of  America,  the  eighty-seventh. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


ADDRESS  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  TO  THE  CITI- 
ZENS OF  SPRINGFIELD  ON  HIS  DEPARTURE 
FOR  WASHINGTON,  FEBRUARY  11,  1861. 

My  Friends:  No  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  appre- 
ciate the  sadness -I  feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people 
I  owe  all  that  I  am.  Here  I  have  lived  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century;  here  my  children  were  born  and 
here  one  of  them  lies  buried.  I  konw  not  how  soon  I  shall 
see  you  again.  A  duty  devolves  upon  me  which  is,  per- 
haps, greater  than  that  which  devolved  upon  any  other 
man  since  the  days  of  Washington.  He  never  would 
have  succeeded  except  by  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence, 
upon  which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  I  can  not 
succeed  without  the  same  Divine  aid  which  sustained  him, 
and  on  the  same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my  reliance  for 
support,  and  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  pray  that  I  may 
receive  that  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  can  not 
succeed,  but  with  which  success  is  certain.  Again  I  bid 
vou  an  affectionate  farewell. 


A  great  man,  tender  of  heart,  strong  of  nerve,  of 
boundless  patience  and  broadest  sympathy,  with  no  mo- 
tive apart  from  his  country,  he  could  receive  counsel  from 
a  child  and  give  counsel  to  a  sage.  The  simple  ap- 
proached him  with  ease  and  the  learned  approached  him 
with  deference.  Take  him  for  all  in  all,  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  one  of  the  noblest,  wisest  and  best  men  I  ever  knew. 

FRED.  K.  DOUGLAS, 

Oldroud's  Album,  Washington,  1880. 


29 


This  ohair  was  part  of  the  parlor  furniture  in  the  Lincoln  home, 
and  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Gkmther,  of  Chicago. 


30 


LINCOLN'S  FAVORITE  POEM. 


Oh!  Why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud? 

Like  a  swift  fleeting  meteor,  a  fast  flying  cloud, 
A  flash  of  the  lightning,  a  break  of  the  wave. 

He  passed  from  life  to  his  rest  in  the  grave. 

The  leaves  of  the  oak  and  the  willow  shall  fade, 
Be  scattered  around  and  together  be  laid; 

And  the  young  and  the  old  and  the  low  and  the  high, 
Shall  molder  to  dust  and  together  shall  lie. 

The  infant,  a  mother  attended  and  loved ; 

The  mother,  that  infant 's  affection  who  proved ; 
The  husband,  that  mother  and  infant  who  blest, 

Each,  all,  are  away  to  their  dwelling  of  rest. 

The  maid,  on  whose  cheek,  on  whose  mrow,  in  whose  -eye, 
Shone  beauty  and  pleasure — her  triumphs  are  by, 

and  the  memory  of  those  who  loved  her  and  praised, 
Are  alike  from  the  minds  of  the  living  erased. 

The  hands  of  the  king  that  the  scepter  hath  borne, 
The  brow  of  the  priest  that  the  miter  hath  worn, 

The  eye  of  the  sage  and  the  heart  of  the  brave, 
Are  hidden  and  lost  in  the  depth  of  the  grave. 

The  peasant  whose  lot  was  to  sow  and  to  reap, 

The  herdsman  who  climbed  with  his  goats  up  the  steep, 

The  beggar  who  wandered  in  search  of  his  bread, 
Have  faded  away  like  the  grass  that  we  tread. 

The  saint  who  enjoyed  the  communion  of  heaven, 
The  sinner  who  dared  to  remain  unforgiven, 

The  wise  and  the  foolish,  the  guilty  and  just, 
Have  quietly  mingled  their  bones  in  the  dust. 

So  the  multitude  goes  like  the  flower  or  the  weed, 
That  withers  away  to  let  others  succeed; 

So  the  multitude  comes — even  those  we  behold, 
To  repeat  every  tale  that  has  often  been  told. 


31, 

For  we  are  the  same  as  oud  fathers  have  been; 

We  see  the  same  sights  our  fathers  have  seen; 
We  drink  the  same  stream,  we  view  the  same  sun, 

And  run  the  same  course  our  fathers  have  run. 

The  thoughts  we  are  thinking,  our  fathers  would  think; 

From  the  death  we  are  shinking  our  fathers  would  shrink. 
To  the  life  we  are  clinging,  they  also  would  cling, 

But  it  speeds  from  us  all  like  a  bird  on  the  wing. 

They  loved — but  the  story  we  can  not  unfold ; 

They  scorned — but  the  heart  of  the  haughty  is  cold; 
They  grieved — but  no  wail  from  their  slumber  will  come ; 

They  joyed — but  the  tongue  of  their  gladness  is  dumb. 

They  died — aye,  they  died — we  things  that  are  now, 
That  walk  on  the  turf  that  lies  over  their  brow, 

And  make  in  their  dwellings  a  transient  abode, 

Meet  the  things  that  they  met  on  their  pilgrimage  road. 

Yea!  Hope  and  despondency,  pleasure  and  pain, 
Are  mingled  together  in  sunshine  and  rain. 

And  the  smile  an  dthe  tear,  the  song  and  the  dirge, 
Still  follow  each  other  like  surge  after  surge. 

'Tis  the  wink  of  an  eye — 'tis  the  draught  of  a  breath, 
From  the  blossoms  of  health  to  the  paleness  of  death ; 

From  the  gilded  saloon  to  the  bier  and  the  shroud. 
Oh !  Why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  ? 

Lincoln  Memorial  Album,  Oldroyd. 


REPLY  TO  A  COMMITTEES  OF  LOYAL  COLORED 

PEOPLE  OF  BALTIMORE,  PRESENTING  THE 

PRESIDENT  WITH  A  BIBLE  COSTING 

$580. 

October,  1864. 

I  can  only  say  now,  as  I  have  often  said  before,  that  it 
has  always  been  a  sentiment  with  me  that  all  mankind 
should  be  free.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able,  or  so  far  as 
came  within  my  sphere,  I  have  always  acted  as  I  believed 


32 

« 

was  right  and  just,  and  have  done  all  I  could  for  the  good 
of  mankind.  I  have  in  letters  and  documents  sent  forth 
from  this  office  expressed  myself  better  than  I  can  now. 
In  regard  to  the  Great  Book  I  have  only  to  say  that  it  is 
the  best  gift  which  God  has  given  to  man.  All  the  good 
from  the  Savior  of  the  world  is  communicatedto  us 
through  this  book.  But  for  this  book  we  could  not  know 
right  from  wrong.  All  those  things  desirable  to  man  are 
contained  in  it. 


ADDRESS  OX  THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  GETTYS- 
BURG, NOVEMBER  19,  1863. 

Four  score  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought 
forth  upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in 
liberty  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are 
created  equal.  Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war, 
testing  whether  that  nation  or  any  other  nation,  so  con- 
ceived and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met 
on  a  great  battlefield  of  that  war.  We  are  met  to  dedicate 
a  portion  of  it  as  the  final  resting  place  of  those  who 
gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  alto- 
gether fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  can  not  dedicate,  we  can  not 
consecrate,  we  can  not  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave 
men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here  have  conse- 
crated it  far  above  our  power  to  add  or  detract.  The 
world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is 
for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  un- 
finished work  that  they  have  thus  far  so  nobly  carried  on. 
It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task 
remaining  before  us— that  from  these  honored  dead  we 
take  increased  devotion  to  the  cause  for  which  they  here 
gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion— that  we  highly 
resolve  that  all  the  dead  shall  have  not  died  in  vain— that 
the  nation  shall,  under  God.  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom, 
and  that  the  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and 
for  the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 


NANCY  HANKS  LINCOLN. 

Those  who  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  often  heard  him  say,  "All  that 
I  am  or  ever  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother."  From  his 
own  lips  the  world  heard  the  story  of  her  life  of  self-sacrifice  and 
devotion.  How  she  took  into  her  mother  heart  the  lonely  neg- 
lected boy  and  taught  him  by  precept  and  example  those  high 
ideals  that  were  in  after  life  to  make  the  vast  difference  between 
Lincoln  and  his  conferees. 


34 


MARY  TODD  LINCOLN. 

Mary  Todd  Lincoln  belonged  to  one  of  the  oldest  and  wealthiest 
families  in  Illinois,  and  was  a  great  help  to  Lincoln,  both  socially 
and  politically.  She  always  regarded  him  as  a  great  man.  It 
was  no  surprise  to  her  when  he  was  elected  president.  It  was 
the  death  knell  to  her  own  future  hope  and  happiness  when  she 
said,  ''They  have  shot  the  president/' 


35 

INAUGURAL    ADDRESS    DELIVERED    ON    THE 
FOURTH  DAY  OF  MARCH,  1861. 

Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
southern  states  that  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican  ad- 
ministration their  property  and  their  peace  and  personal 
security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never  been  any 
reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the 
most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while 
existed  and  been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in 
nearly  all  the  published  speeches  of  him  who  now  ad- 
dresses you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches 
when  I  declare  that  "I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  in- 
directly, to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
states  where  it  exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to 
do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so."  Those  who 
nominated  and  elected  me  did  so  with  full  knowledge  that 
I  had  made  this  and  many  similar  declarations,  and  had 
never  recanted  them. 

Before  entering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  destruc- 
tion of  our  national  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its 
memories  and  its  hopes,  would  it  not  be  wise  to  ascertain 
precisely  why  we  do  it!  Will  you  hazard  so  desperate 
a  step  while  there  is  any  possibility  that  any  portion  of 
the  ills  you  fly  from  have  no  real  existence?  Will  you, 
while  the  certain  ills  you  fly  to  are  greater  than  all  the 
real  ones  you  fly  from— will  you  risk  the  commission  of 
so  fearful  a  mistake? 

Physically  speaking,  we  can  not  separate.  We  can  not 
remove  our  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build 
an  impassable  wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife 
may  be  divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence  and  beyond 
the  reach  of  each  other,  but  the  different  parts  of  our 
country  can  not  do  this.  They  can  not  but  remain  face 
to  face,  and  intercourse,  either  amicable  or  hostile,  must 
continue  between  them.  Is  it  impossible,  then,  to  that 
intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more  satisfactory 
after  separation  than  before!  Can  aliens  make  treaties 


36 

easier  than  friends  can  make  laws  ?  Can  treaties  be  more 
faithfully  enforced  between  aliens  than  laws  can  among 
friends!  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  can  not  fight 
always ;  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no 
gain  on  either,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  old  ques- 
tions, as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are  again  upon  you. 

The  chief  magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from  the 
people,  and  they  have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix 
terms  for  the  separation  of  the  states.  The  people  them- 
selves can  do  this  also  if  they  choose;  but  the  executive, 
as  such,  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  His  duty  is  to  adminis- 
ter the  present  government  as  it  came  to  his  hands,  and 
to  transmit  it  unimpaired  by  him,  to  his  successor. 

Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence  in  the 
ultimate  justice  of  the  people?  Is  there  any  better  or 
equal  hope  in  the  world!  In  our  present  differences  is 
either  party  without  faith  of  being  in  the  right?  If  the 
Almighty  Ruler  of  nations,  with  His  eternal  truth  and 
justice,  be  on  your  side  of  the  north,  or  yours  of  the  south, 
that  truth  and  that  justice  will  surely  prevail,  by  the 
judgment  of  this  great  tribunal  of  the  American  people. 

By  the  form  of  the  government  under  which  we  live, 
the  same  people  have  wisely  given  their  public  servants 
but  little  power  for  mischief ;  and  have  with  equal  wisdom 
provided  for  the  return  of  that  little  to  their  own  hands 
at  very  short  intervals.  While  the  people  retain  their 
virtue  and  vigilance,  no  administration,  by  any  extreme 
of  wickedness  or  folly  can  very  seriously  injure  the 
government  in  the  short  space  of  four  years. 

My  countrymen ,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well 
upon  this  whole  subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by 
taking  time.  If  there  be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you  in 
hot  haste  to  a  step  which  you  would  not  take  deliberately, 
that  object  will  be  frustrated  by  taking  time ;  but  no  good 
can  be  frustrated  by  it.  Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatis- 
fied still  have  the  old  constitution  unimpaired,  and,  on 
the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of  your  own  framing  under 


37 

it;  while  the  new  administration  with  no  immediate 
power,  if  it  would,  to  change  either.  If  it  were  admitted 
that  you  who  are  dissatisfied,  hold  the  right  side  in  the 
dispute,  there  still  is  no  single  good  reason  for  precipi- 
tate action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity  and  a 
firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this 
favored  land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the  best 
way,  all  our  present  difficulty. 

In  your  hands,  -my  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,  and 
not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The 
government  will  not  assail  you. 

You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to 
destroy  the  government,  while  I  shall  have  the  most 
solemn  one  to  " preserve,  protect  and  defend"  it. 

I  am  loathe  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends. 
We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have 
strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection. 

The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every 
battlefield  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and 
hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the 
chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely  they 
will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  natures. 


38 


TOLLING. 


Tolling,  tolling,  tolling! 

All  the  bells  of  the  land! 
Lo !  the  patriot  martyr 

'Taketh  his  journey  grand. 
Travels  into  the  ages, 

Bearing  a  hope,  how  dear! 
Into  life's  unknown  vistas, 

Liberty's  great  pioneer. 

Tolling,  tolling,  tolling! 

See,  they  come  as  a  claud, 
Hearts  of  a  mighty  people, 

Bearing  his  pall  and  shroud, 
Lifting  up  like  a  banner 

Signs  of  loss  and  woe ; 
Wonder  of  breathless  nations, 

moveth  the  solemn  show. 

Tolling,  tolling,  tolling! 

Was  it,  oh  man  beloved, 
Was  it  thy  funeral  only 

Over  the  land  that  moved? 
Veiled  by  that  hour  of  anguish, 

Borne  with  the  rebel  rout, 
Forth  into  utter  darkness, 

Slavery's  corse  went  out. 

— Liicy  Larcom,  Oldroyd's  Memorial  Alburn. 


39 


a 

02 


40 


LINCOLN'S    FUNERAL. 


For  ten  days  a  large  number  of  men  and  women  worked 
almost  night  and  day  in  decorating  the  State  House.  The 
whole  building  was  draped  in  mourning  on  the  exterior, 
and  the  rotunda  and  representatives'  hall  on  the  in- 
terior, arid  the  entrance  of  the  Governor's  room,  the 
rooms  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  Auditor  of  State  and 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  Part  of  the  time 
there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons  at  work.  The 
ladies  of  Springfield  bore  their  full  share  in  these  arduous 
labors.  I  have  been  furnished  with  the  following  figures 
by  a  prominent  citizen  of  this  city  who  prepared  some  of 
the  designs  for  decoration.  I  shall  not  attempt  a  de- 
scription of  the  ornamental  work,  but  will  give  a  few 
facts  by  which  some  idea  of  their  gorgeous  beauty  may  be 
conveyed.  About  fifteen  hundred  yards  of  black  and 
white  goods  were  used  in  the  decoration,  exclusive  of  the 
catafalque.  In  its  construction  and  decoration  black 
cloth,  black  velvet,  black,  blue  and  white  silk  and  crape, 
with  silver  stars  and  silver  lace  and  fringe,  were  used  in 
the  greatest  profusion.  The  canopy  of  the  catafalque 
was  made  of  velvet,  festooned  with  satin  and  silver  fringe. 
It  was  lined  on  the  under  side  with  blue  silk,  studded  with 
silver  stars.  Three  hundred  yards  of  velvet  and  mourn- 
ing goods  and  three  hundred  yards  o'f  silver  lace  and 
fringe,  besides  a  vast  quantity  of  other  materials,  were 
used  in  its  construction.  Each  of  the  six  columns  was 
sumounted  with  a  rich  plume. 

Evergreens  and  flowers,  interspersed  with  crape,  hung 
in  festoons  from  capitols,  columns  and  cornices  in  all 
parts  of  the  building.  Two  hundred  vases  of  natural 
flowers  in  full  bloom,  emitted  their  fragrance  throughout 


41 

the  edifice.  Nearly  all  of  them  were  furnished  free  of 
cost  by  Michael  Doyle,  horticulturalist,  of  Springfield. 
Mottoes  and  inscriptions  were  displayed  at  various 
places  about  the  hall,  but  I  can  only  give  place  to  two  of 
them: 

"Washington,  the  father,  Lincoln  the  savior." 
"Bather  than   surrender   that  principle  I  would   be 
assassinated  on  this  spot." 

The  Governor's  mansion,  the  old  Lincoln  residence, 
the  military  headquarters  of  Gen.  Cook  and  Gen.  Oakes, 
were  decorated,  externally,  similar  to  the  State  House. 
Of  twenty  thousand  dollars  appropriated  by  the  city 
of  Springfield,  to  be  expended  in  preparations  for  the 
funeral,  less  than  fifteen  thousand  were  used.  Part  of  it 
was  expended  in  building  the  temporary  vault  on-  the 
new  State  House  grounds,  paying  railroad  charges  on 
some  carriages  from  Jacksonville,  the  hearse  from  St. 
Louis,  and  the  expenses  of  musicians  and  the  orator,  but 
much  of  the  largest  portion  of  the  whole  amount  was  laid 
out  in  decorating  the  buildings  above  mentioned.  This, 
however,  was  only  a  small  part  of  the  money  thus  ex- 
pended, for  the  wljole  city  was  draped  in  mourning,  busi- 
ness houses,  private  residences  and  all,  and  in  many  in- 
stances they  were  as  richly  decorated  as  the  public 
buildings. 

It  was  well  known  that  the  hotels  could  not  accommo- 
date a  tithe  of  the  strangers  who  would  be  in  attendance, 
and  private  families  who  could  do  so,  made  preparations 
and  invited  to  their  houses  such  as  could  not  otherwise 
be  provided  for.  The  six  organizations  of  Free  Masons 
in  Springfield,  viz :  four  lodges,  one  chapter  and  one  com- 
mandery,  made  equal  appropriations  from  their  several 
treasureies,  procured  one  of  .the  largest  halls  in  the  city, 
filled  it  with  tables  ,and  kept  them  supplied  with  well 
cooked  food  prepared  by  the  families  of  their  members. 
This  dining  hall  was  intended  to  be  free  to  Masons  only 


42 

who  should  be  in  attendance,  but  many  others  partook 
qf  their  bounty  also.  As  for  sleeping,  there  was  not  much 
of  that  done  in  Springfield  on  the  night  the  remains  of 
Lincoln  were  exposed  to  view. 

Strangers  who  were  in  the  city  on  this  occasion  for  the 
first  time,  almost  invariably  visited  the  former  residence 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Eighth 
and  Jackson  streets. 

As  already  stated,  it  was  elaborately  and  tastefully 
decorated  with  the  national  colors  and  insignia  of  sorrow. 
The  committee  of  escort  from  Chicago,  numbering  one 
hundred,  although  business  engagaments  prevented  part 
of  their  number  visiting  Springfield— assembled  near  the 
residence  and  had  their  photographs  taken  in  a  group  in 
connection  with  the  house,  to  be  preserved  as  a  memorial 
of  their  mournful  visit.  The  photograph  was  by  an 
artist  from  Chicago,  who  accompanied  the  escort  to 
Springfield  for  the  purpose  of  taking  views  of  the  State 
House,  the  closing  scenese  at  Oak  Ridge,  and  other  ob- 
jects of  interest. 

From  the  time  the  coffin  was  opened,  at  ten  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  May  third,  there  was  no  cessation  of  visi- 
tors. All  through  the  still  hours  of  the  night,  no  human 
voices  were  heard  except  in  subdued  tones ;  but  the  tramp, 
tramp  of  busy  feet,  as  men  and  women  filed  through  the 
State  House,  up  one  flight  of  stairs  and  through  the  hall, 
and  down  another  stairway,  testified  the  love  and  venera- 
tion of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  hearts  of  his  old  friends 
and  neighbors.  While  the  closing  scenes  were  being 
enacted,  a  choir  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  singers,  accom- 
panied by  Lebrun's  Washington  band,  of  twenty  per- 
formers, from  St.  Louis,  assembled  on  the  steps  of  the 
capitol,  and,  under  direction  of  Professor  Meissner  sang 
"Peace  Troubled  Soul." 

The  coffin  was  closed  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
May  4th,  and  while  it  was  being  conveyed  to  the  hearse, 


43 


05 
05 

W 

ffl 

rd 

-t-i 

03 

05 


44 

the  choir  sang  Pleyel's  Hymn,  ''Children  of  the  Heavenly 
King." 

The  funeral  procession  was  then  formed  in  the  follow- 
ing order,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Major  Gen- 
eral Joseph  Hooker,  marshal-in-chief : 

Brig.  Gen.  John  Cook  and  staff,  Brig.  Gen.  James 
Oakes  and  staff,  military,  funeral  escort. 

First  Division- Col.  C.  M.  Provost,  16th  Reg.  V.  R.  C., 
marshal.  Aides :  Lieut.  Thomas  B,  Beach,  A.  A.  A. ;  Gen. 
Maj.  Horace  Holt,  1st  Mass.  Heavy  Artillery;  Capt.  J. 
C.  Remison,  15th  N.  Y.  Cavalry;  Capt.  E.  C.  Raymond, 
124th  111.  Inf.;  Capt.  Eddy,  95th  111.  Inf.;  Lieut.  H.  N. 
Schlick,  1  st  N.  Y.  Dragoons. 

This  division  consisted  entirely  of  infantry,  cavalry 
and  artillery. 

Second  Division— Maj.  F.  Bridgman,  Pay  Department 
U.  S.  Army,  marshal.  Aides:  Maj.  R.  W.  McClaughry 
and  Maj.  W.  W.  White. 

This  division  was  composed  of  officers  and  enlisted  men 
of  the  army  and  navy,  not  otherwise  assigned,  officers 
in  uniform  and  side  arms.  Maj.  Gen.  John  A.  McCler- 
nand  was  the  marshal  of  the  civic  department  of  the  pro- 
cession. Aides :  Lieut.  Col.  Schwartz,  Capt.  Henry  Jayne, 
Capt.  R.  Rudolph,  Capt.  Benjamin  Ferguson,  Hon. 
Charles  Keys,  W.  M.  Springer,  E.  E.  Myers,  Ed.  L.  Mer- 
rit,  N.  Higgins. 

Third  Division— Col.  Dudley  Wickersham,  of  the  1st 
Army  Corps,  marshal.  Aides:  Joshua  Rodgers,  Isaac 
A.  Hawley,  W.  F.  Kimber,  J.'  B.  Perkins. 

Marshals  of  Sections— Col.  W.  S.  Barnum,  Capt.  A.  J. 
Allen.  Col.  S.  N.  Hitt,  Clinton  L.  Conkling,  Robert  P. 
Officer,  W.  Smith  and  Capt.  T.  G.  Barnes. 

Orator  of  the  day  and  officiating  clergymen— Rev.  Dr. 
Simpson,  Bishop  of  the  M.  E.  Church  and  orator  of  the 
day;  Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  Rev.  Dr.  N.  "W.  Miner,  R^v.  Dr. 
Harkey,  Rev.  Albert  Hale,  Rev.  A.  C.  Hubbard  and  others. 


45 


The  house  in  Washington  where  Lincoln  died.     Now  occupied  by 
Mr.  Oldroyd  and  the  Lincoln  Museum. 


46 

Surgeons  and  physicians  of  the  deceased. 

Hearse. 

Pall  Bearers— Hon.  Jessie  K.  Dubois,  Hon.  S.  T.  Lo- 
gan, Hon.  Gustavus  Koerner,  James  L.  Lamb,  Esq.,  Hon. 
S.  H.  Treat,  Col.  John  Williams,  Erastus  Wright,  Esq., 
Hon.  J.  N.  Brown,  Jacob  Bunn,  Esq.,  C.  W.  Matheny, 
Esq.,  Elijah  lies,  Esq.,  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart. 

"Old  Bob"  or  "Old  Robbin,"  the  horse  formerly  rid- 
den by  Abraham  Lincoln  in  his  political  campaigns  and 
law  practice,  off  the  lines  of  railroad.  He  was  about  six- 
teen years  old,  and  was  led  by  two  colored  grooms. 

Guard  of  honor  in  carriages,  as  follows :  Brevet  Brig. 
Gen.  E.  P.  Townsend,  Brevet  Brig.  Gen.  Charles  Thomas, 
Brig.  Gen.  A.  B.  Eaton,  Brevet  Maj.  Gen.  J.  G.  Barnard, 
Brig.  Gen.  G.  D.  Ramsey,  Brig.  Gen.  A.  P.  Howe,  Brevet 
Brig.  Gen.  D.  C.  McCallum,  Maj.  Gen.  D.  Hunter,  Gen. 
J.  C.  Caldwell,  Brig.  Gen.  Elkin,  Rear  Admiral  C.  H. 
Davis,  Capt.  W.  R.  Taylor,  U.  S.  Navy,  Maj.  Th.  Field, 
IT.  S.  Marine  Corps. 

Relatives  and  family  friends  in  carriages. 

Fourth  Division— Col.  Speed  Butler,  marshal.  Aides: 
Maj.  Robert  Allen,  Capt.  Louis  Rosette  and  Capt,  Albert 
Williams. 

Marshals  of  Sections— William  Bennet,  H.  W.  Ives, 
Philip  C.  Latham,  William  V.  Roll,  K.  H.  Richardson, 
J.  E.  Williams  and  J.  D.  Crabb. 

Senate— Hon.  Messrs.  James  W.  Nye,  of  Nevada; 
George  H.  Williams,  of  Oregon;  Henry  S.  Lane,  of  In- 
diana; John  B.  Henderson,  of  Missouri;  Lyman  Trunv 
bull  and  Richard  Yates,  of  Illinois ;  Howe  and  Doolittle, 
of  Wisconsin;  Foote,  of  Vermont;  Chandler,  of  Michigan; 
and  George  T.  Brown,  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  U.  S. 
Senate. 

House  of  Representatives— Hon.  Schupler  Coif  ax, 
Speaker;  Hon.  Messrs.  Pike  ,of  Maine;  Rolljns,  of  New 
Hampshire;  Baxter,  of  Connecticut;  Harris,  of  New 


47 

York;  Cowan,  of  Pennsylvania;  Farnsworth,  Washburn, 
Cook,  Norton  and  Arnold,  of  Illinois;  Morehead  and 
Bailey,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Sloan,  of  Wisconsin ;  Wilson,  of 
Iowa;  Farquhar,  of  Indiana;  Clarke,  of  Kansas^  Shan- 
non, of  California;  Phelps,  of  Maryland;  Hooper,  of 
Massachusetts;  Fervy,  of  Michigan;  Newell,  of  New 
-Jersey;  Whaley,  of  West  Virginia;  Schenck,  of  Ohio; 
Smith,  of  Kentucky;  Hitchcock,  of  Nebraska;  and  S.  G. 
Ordway,  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 

Territorial  Representatives— Hon.  Messrs.  Bradford, 
of  Colorado,  and  Weed,  of  Dakota. 

A  portion  of  those  who  are  named  among  the  congres- 
sional delegation  did  not  attend,  but  of  those  who  were 
certainly  with  the  funeral  coretge  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  journey  were  the  Hon.  Messrs.  Wiliams, 
of  Oregon ;  Nye,  of  Nevada ;  Washburn,  of  Illinois ;  More- 
head,  of  Pennsylvania;  Hooper,  of  Massachusetts;  and 
Schenck,  of  Ohio. 

Some  of  the  members  of  Congress  in  the  Illinois  dele- 
gation—Governor JR.  J.  Oglesby,  Hons.  Jesse  K.  Dubois, 
Shelby  M.  Cullom  and  D.  L.  Phillips,  Adjt.  Gen.  Isham 
N.  Haynie,  Col.  J.  H.  Bowen,  W.  Hanna,  E.  F.  Leonard, 
Dr.  S/H.  Melvin,  Hon.  O.  M.  Hatch,  Col.  John  Williams. 

Governors  of  states  with  their  suites  and  governors  of 
territories— Oglesby,  of  Illinois;  Bramlette,  of  Kentucky; 
Morton,  of  Indiana;  Fletcher,  of  Missouri;  Stone,  of 
Iowa ;  Pickering,  of  Washington  Territory ;  and  Wallace, 
of  Idaho  Territory. 

Members  of  the  Illinois  Legislature.  Kentucky  dele- 
gation. Chicago  Committee  of  Reception  and  Escort. 

Fifth  Division— Hon.  George  L.  Huntington,  marshal. 
Aides :  Dr.  S.  Babcock,  George  Shepherd,  Charles  Ridg- 
ley,  George  Latham,  Moses  B.  Condell. 

This  division  was  composed  of  the  municipal  authority 
of  Springfield  and  other  cities. 


48 

Sixth  Division— Hon.  W.  H.  Herndon,  marshal.  Aides : 
P.  P.  Enos,  C.  S.  Zane,  Dr.  T.  W.  Dresser,  John  T.  Jones, 
"William  G.  Cochrane,  James  Rayborne,  Charles  Vincent, 
Edward  Beach,  John  Peters,  C.  W.  Reardon,  R.  C. 
Huskey. 

Marshals    of    Sections-  Thomas    Lyon,    B.    T.    Hill, 
George  Birge,  Henry  Yeakel,  Jacob  Halfen,   • 
Sweet,  Dewitt  C.  Hartwell,  Hamilton  Hancy,  Fred  B. 
Smith. 

The  sixth  division  was  composed  of  Christian,  sanitary 
and  other  commissions,  aid  societies,  etc.,  and  delegations 
from  universities,  colleges  and  other  institutions  of  learn- 
ing. 

Reverend  clergy,  not  officiating  for  the  day. 

Members  of  the  legal  profession. 

Members  of  the  medical  profession. 

Representatives  of  the  press. 

Seventh  Division— Hon.  Harmon  G.  Reynolds,  marshal. 
Aides :  George  R.  Tindale,  John  A.  Hughes,  James 
Smith,  P.  Fitzpatrick,  Henry  Shuck  and  Thomas 
0  'Conner. 

Marshals,  of  Sections— Capt.  Charles  Fisher,  Frank 
W.  Tracy,  M.  Conner,  Frederick  Smith,  M.  Armstrong, 
Richard  Young. 

This  division  was  composed  of  various  bodies  of  Free 
Masons,  Odd  Fellows  and  other  kindred  fraternities  and 
the  firemen. 

Eighth  Division— Hon.  John  W.  Smith,  marshal. 
Aides:  Capt.  Isaac  Keys,  S.  H.  Jones,  Hon.  John  W. 
Priest,  0.  A.  Abel,  Maj.  H  .N.  Alden,  Wm.  P.  Crafton, 
G.  A.  Kimber,  John  W.  Poorman,  Henry  Ridgley,  J.  H. 
Crow,  John  Davis,  Presco  Wright,  N.  V.  Hunt,  George 
Dalby,  Alfred  A.  North,  Hon.  J.  S.  Bradford,  Samuel  P. 
Town  send. 


49 

This  division  was  composed  of  citizens  generally,  and 
all  who  had  not  been  assigned  to  some  other  place  in  the 
procession,  bringing  up  the  rear  with  the  colored  people. 

The  procession  thus  formed  received  the  corpse  at  the 
north  gate  of  the  State  House  square^  and  moved  east  on? 
Washington  street  to  Eighth,  south  on  Eighth,  passing 
the  Lincoln  residence  at  the  corner  of  Jackson  and 
Eighth,  to  Cook,  west  on  Cook  to  Fourth,  north  on  Fourth, 
passing  between  the  Governor's  mansion— then  the  Home 
of  Governor  Oglesby— and  the  fine  residence  of  ex-Gover- 
nor Matteson,  to  Union,  west  on  Union  to  Third,  north  on 
Third  to  the  east  entrance  to  Oak  Ridge  cemetery,  one 
and  one-half  miles  from  the  State  House. 

On  arriving  at  the  cemetery,  the  remains  were  placed 
in  the  receiving  tomb.  The  choir  then  sang  the  Dead 
March  m  Saul : 

11  Unveil  thy  bosom,  faithful  tomb, 

Take  this  new  treasure  to  thy  trust,"  etc. 

Rev.  Albert  Hale,  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
church,  of  Springfield,  then  offered  a  fervent  and  ap- 
propriate prayer,. after  which  the  choir  sang  a  dirge  com- 
posed for  the  occasion  by  L.  W.  Davis;  music  by  George 
F.  Root: 

"Farwell,  Father,  Friend  and  Guardian." 

A  portion  of  the  scripture  was  then  read  by  Rev.  N.  W. 
Miner  and  the  choir  sang: 

"To  Thee,  0,  Lord,  I  Yield  My  Spirit." 

President  Lincoln's  inaugural  address  of  March  4, 
1865,  was  then  read  by  Rev.  A.  C.  Hubbard.  A  dirge  was 
performed  by  the  choir,  and  then  followed  the  funeral 
oration  by  Rev.  Dr.  Simpson,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 

It  was  a  review  of  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  more 
particularly  that  part  from  the  time  he  left  Springfield, 


50 


Badge  worn  by  citizens  of  Springfield  at  Lincoln's  funeral. 


51 

Feb.  .11,  1861,  until  his  death.  In  drawing  the  contrast 
between  his  departure  and  return,  the  Bishop  said: 

"Such  a  scene  as  his  return  to  you  was  never  known 
among  the  events  of  history.  There  was  one  for  the  Pa- 
triarch Jacob,  which  come  up  from  Egypt,  and  the  Egyp- 
tians wondered  at  the  evidences  of  reverence  and  filial 
affection  which  came  up  from  the  hearts  of  the  Israelites. 
There  was  mourning  when  Moses  fell  upon  the  heigths  of 
Pisgah,  and  was  hid  from  human  view.  There  has  been 
mourning  in  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  when  kings  and 
princes  have  fallen,  but  never  was  there  in  the  history  of 
man  such  mourning  as  that  which  accompanied  this 
funeral  procession. 

Far  more  eyes  have  gazed  upon  the  face  of  the  de- 
parted than  ever  looked  upon  the  face  of  any  other  de- 
parted man.  More  eyes  have  looked  upon  the  procession 
of  sixteen  hundred  miles  and  more,  by  night  and  by  day, 
by  sunlight,  dawn,  twilight  and  by  torchlight,  than  ever 
before  watched  the  progress  of  a  procession." 

In  illustration  of  the  universal  feeling  of  sorrow,  the 
orator  said: 

"Nor  is  this  mourning  confined  to  anyone  class  or  to 
any  district  or  country.  Men  of  all  political  parties  and 
all  religious  creeds,  have  united  in  paying  this  mournful 
tribute.  The  Archbishop  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
in  New  York  an  a  Protestant  minister  walked  side  by 
side  in  the  sad  procession.  A  Jewish  Rabbi  performed 
part  of  the  solemn  services. 

But  the  great  cause  of  this  mourning  is  found  in  the 
man  himself.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  no  ordinary  man;  and  I 
believe  the  conviction  has  been  growing  on  the  nation's 
mind,  as  it  certainly  has  been  on  mine,  especially  in  the 
last  years  of  his  administration,  that  by  the  hand  of  God 
he  was  especially  singled  out  to  guide  our  government 
in  these  troubled  times.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  the  hand 
of  God  may  be  traced  in  many  of  the  events  connected 
with  his  historv. 


52 


Booth  on  the  Scaffold. 
After  the  Trap  was  Sprung. 


53 

T  recognize  this  in  bis  physical  education,  which  pre- 
pared him  for  enduring  herculean  labors.  In  the  toils 
of  his  boyhood  and  the  labors  of  his  manhood,  God  was 
giving  him  an  iron  frame.  Next  to  this  was  his  identi- 
fication with  the  heart  of  the  great  people,  understanding 
their  feelings  because  he  was  one  of  them,  and  connected 
with  them  in  their  movements  and  life.  His  education 
,was  simple.  A  few  months  spent  in  the  school  house 
gave  him  the  elements  of  an  education.  He  read  Bun- 
van's  Pilgrims'  Progress,  Aesop's  Fables  and  Life  of 
Washington,  which  gave  the  basis  to  his  character,  and 
which  partly  moulded  his  style.  His  early  life,  with  its 
varied  struggles,  joined  him  indissolubly  to  the  working 
masses,  and  no  elevation  in  society  diminished  his  respect 
for  the  sons  of  toil.  He  knew  what  it  was  to  fell  the  tall 
trees  of  the  forest  and  to  stem  the  current  of  the  broad 
Mississippi.  His  home  was  in  the  growing  west— the 
heart  of  the  Republic— and  invigorated  by  the  winds  that 
swept  over  its  prairies,  he  learned  lessons  of  self  reliance 
that  sustained  him  in  scenes  of  adversity. 

His  genius  was  soon  recognized  as  the  true  genius 
always  will  be,  and  lie  was  placed  in  the  Legislature  of  his 
adopted  state.  Already  acquainted  with  the  principles 
of  law,  he  devoted  his  thoughts  to  matters  of  public  in- 
terest and  began  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  coming  states- 
man. As  early  as  1839  he  presented  resolutions  in  the 
Legislature  asking  for  emancipation  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  while,  with  but  rare  exceptions,  the  whole  pop- 
ular mind  of  his  state  was  opposed  to  the  measure.  From 
that  hour  he  was  a  steady  and  uniform  friend  of  human- 
ity, and  was  preparing  for  the  conflict*of  later  years. 

It  was  not,  however,  chiefly  by  his  mental  faculties  that 
he  gained  such  control  over  mankind.  His  moral  power 
gave  him  pre-eminence.  The  convictions  of  men  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  an  honest  man,  led  them  to  yield 
to  his  guidance.  As  has  been  said  of  Cobden,  whom  he 
greatly  resembled,  he  made  all  men  feel  a  kind  of  sense 


54 

of  himself— a  recognized  individuality— a  self-relying 
power.  They  saw  in  him  a  man  whom  they  believed 
would  do  what  was  right  regardless  of  consequences.  It 
was  this  moral  feeling  which  gave  him  the  great  hold 
upon  the  people  and  made  his  utterances  almost  ocular. 

But  the  great  act  of  the  mighty  chieftain,  on  which  his 
power  shall  rest  long  after  his  fame  shall  moulder  away, 
is  giving  freedom  to  a  race.  We  have  all  been  taught  to 
rever  the  sacred  scriptures.  We  have  thought  of  Moses, 
of  his  power,  and  the  prominence  he  gave  to  the  moral 
law;  how  it  lasts,  and  how  his  name  towers  high  among 
the  names  in  heaven,  and  how  he  delivered  those  millions 
of  his  kindred  out  of  bondage.  And  yet  we  may  assert 
that  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  his  proclamation,  liberated 
more  enslaved  people  than  ever  Moses  set  free— and 
those  not  his  kindred.  God  has  seldom  given  such  op- 
portunity to  man.  When  other  events  shall  have  been 
forgotten ;  when  this  world  shall  become  a  network  of  re- 
publics ;  when  every  throne  shall  be  swept  from  the  face 
of  the  earth ;  when  literature  shall  enlighten  all  minds ; 
when  the  claims  of  humanity  shall  be  recognized  every- 
where, this  act  shall  still  be  conspicuous  on  the  pages  of 
history.  And  we  are  thankful  that  God  gave  to  Abraham 
Lincoln  the  decision  and  wisdom  and  grace  to  issue  that 
proclamation,  which  stands  high  above  all  other  papers 
which  have  been  penned  by  inspired  men. 

Look  over  all  his  speeches— listen  to  all  his  utterances 
—he  never  spoke  unkindly  of  any  man.  Even  -the  rebels 
received  no  word  of  anger  from  him,  and  the  last  day  of 
his  life  illustrated  in  a  remarkable  manner  his  forgiving 
disposition.  A  dispatch  was  received  that  afternoon  that 
Thompson  and  Tucker  were  trying  to  escape  through 
Maine,  and  it  was  proposed  to  arrest  them.  Mr.  Lincoln, 
however,  preferred  to  let  them  quietly  escape.  He  was 
seeking;  to  save  the  very  men  who  had  been  plotting  his 
destruction;  and  this  morning  we  read  a  proclamation 
offering  $25,000  for  the  arrest  of  these  men  as  aiders  and 


55 

• 

abettors  of  his  assassination ;  so  that  in  his  expiring  acts, 
he  was  saying:  'Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what 
they  do.'  As  a  ruler,  I  doubt  if  any  president  ever 
showed  such  trust  in  God,  or,  in  public  documents,  so 
frequently  referred  to  Divine  aid.  Often  did  he  remark 
to  friends  and  delegations  that  his  hope  for  our  success 
rested  in  his  conviction  that  God  would  bless  our  efforts 
because  we  were  trying  to  do  right.  To  the  address  of 
a  large  religious  body  lie  replied,  'Thanks  be  unto  God, 
who,  in  our  national  trials,  giveth  us  the  church.'  To  a 
minister  who  said  he  'hoped  the  Lord  was  on  our  side,' 
he  replied  that  it  'gave  him  no  concern  whether  the  Lord 
was  on  our  side  or  not'  and  then  added  'for  I  know  the 
Lord  is  always  on  the  side  of  right,'  and  with  deep  feel- 
ing continued :  'But  God  is  my  witness  that  it  is  my  con- 
stant anxiety  and  prayer  that  both  myself  and  this  na- 
tion should  be  on  the  Lord's  side.' 

After  the  oration  or  eulogy  a  requiem  was  performed 
by  the  choir,  a  prayer  offered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Harkey, 
followed  by  the  singing  of 

"Peace,  troubled  soul." 

Eev.  Dr.  P.  D.  Gurley  then  arose,  made  a  few  remarks 
and  the  closing  prayer,  after  which  the  following  funeral 
hymn,  composed  by  him  for  the  occasion,  was  sung: 

Rest,  noble  martyr,  rest  in  peace; 

Rest  with  the  true  and  brave, 
Who,  like  thee,  fell  in  freedom's  cause, 

The  nation's  life  to  save. 

Thy  name  shall  live  while  time  endures, 

And  men  shall  say  of  thee. 
He  saved  his  country  from  its  foes, 

And  bade  the  slave  be  free. 

These  deeds  shall  be  thy  monument, 
Better  than  brass  or  stone; 
They  leave  thy  fame  in  glory's  light 
Unrivaled  and  alone. 


56 


Flag  That  Caught  Booth's  Spur. 


57 


Booth  Jumping  from  the  Box. 


58 

This  consecrated  spot  shall  be 

To  freedom  ever  dear ; 
And  freedom's  sons  of  every  race 

Shall  weep  and  worship  here. 

0,  God,  before  whom  we  in  tears 

Our  fallen  chief  deplore, 
Grant  that  the  cause  for  which  he  died 

May  live  forever  more. 

The  services  closed  by  the  choir  singing  the  Doxology, 
and  the  benediction  by  Dr.  Gurley,  when  the  vast  multi- 
tude melted  away  and  sought  the  railroad  depots,  from 
which  the  trains  bore  them  to  their  homes  in  all  parts  of 
the  nation— east,  west,  north  and  south.  Thus  ended  the 
most  grand  and  sublime  funeral  pageant  the  world  ever 
saw.  The  injunction  so  often  repeated  on  the  way— 

1 '  Bear  him  gently  to  his  rest, ' ' 

was  reverently  obeyed,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  words, 

"The  heart  of  the  nation  throbs  heavily  at  the  portals 
of  the  tomb," 

were  realized  with  a  force  of  which  he  little  thought  at 
the  time  they  were  spoken. 

In  the  largest  number  of  places  where  the  escort 
stopped  to  give  an  opportunity  for  public  honors,  the 
local  authorities  provided  guards  to  relieve  the  guard  of 
honor  detailed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  but  in  no  in- 
stance did  they  all  leave  the  remains.  They  were  acting 
under  orders  to  guard  the  body  of  Abraham  Lincoln  until 
it  should  be  deposited  in  its  final  resting  place  at  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  and  during  all  the  journey  there  was  not  a 
moment  but  one  or  more  of  these  veteran  officers  with 
bronzed  visages  and  gray  hairs  could  not  be  seen  near  the 
body. 

According -to  the  special  order  issued  from  the  War 
Department,  April  18,  1865,  all  arrangements  by  state  or 
municipal  authorities  for  doing  honor  to  the  remains 


The  chair  in  which  Lincoln  was  sitting  when  he  was  shot. 


60 

were  to  be  under  the  direction  of  the  military  commander 
of  the  division,  department  or  district  in  which  the  pro- 
posed demonstrations  were  to  take  place.  In  order  to 
see  that  the  provisions  of  this  order  were  carried  out, 
Major  General  Cadwallader,  commander  of  the  depart- 
ment of  Pennsylvania,  joined  the  cortege  at  the  state  line 
between  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  He  continued  with 
the  funeral  party  until  it  reached  Jersey  City,  when  he 
was  relieved  by  Major  General  John  A.  Dix,  commander 
of  the  department  of  New  York.  General  Dix  traveled 
with  the  cortege  through  New  York  and  acrpss  the 
northern  end  of  Pennsylvania.  Major  General  Joseph 
Hooker,  commander  of  the  department  of  the  Ohio,  re- 
lieved General  Dix  at  Wickliffe,  Ohio.  General  Hooker 
continued  with  the  funeral  cortege  until  the  closing  cere- 
monies at  Springfield,.  Illinois. 

I  have  omitted  to  mention  the  estimates  given  in  the 
papers  of  the  number  who  viewed  the  remains  at  different 
points,  but  summing  them  all  up  at  the  close,  I  feel  justi- 
fied in  saying  that  more  than  one  million  men  and.  women 
must  have  looked  upon  the  dead  face  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
an  event  which  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

In  the  course  of  the  entire  journey  there  can  not  be  a 
line  or  even  a  word  found  on  record  urging  the  people 
to  turn  out  in  honor  of  the  deceased.  The  assembling  of 
such  multitudes  was.  in  all  cases,  spontaneous.  Day  and 
night,  cold  or  warm,  rain  or  shine,  for  twelve  long  days 
and  nights,  it  was  only  necessary  for  the  people  to  know 
the  time  the  cortege  was  expected  to  arrive  at  any  given 
point  to  bring  them  together  in  great  numbers. 

The  annexed  table  will  exhibit  the  distance  traveled  by 
the  funeral  train  that  bore  the  remains  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln from  Washington  City  to  Springfield,  Illinois.  The 
distance  is  also  given  between  the  different  points  at 
which  the  remains  were  taken  from  the  train  in  com- 
pliance with  the  desire  of  the  people  to  do  honor  to  the 
memory  of  the  martyred  president : 


61 

Miles. 

From  Washington  to  Baltimore 40 

From  Baltimore  via  York  to  Harrisburg 84 

From  Harrisburg  to  Philadelphia 107 

From  Philadelphia  via  Trenton  to  New  York 87 

From  New  Y"ork  to  Albany 142 

From  Albany  via  Schnectady,  Utica,  Syracuse, 

Rochester  and  Patavia  to  Buffalo 296 

From  Buffalo  via  Dunkirk  and  Erie  to  Cleveland .  . .  183 
From  Cleveland  via  Crestline  and  Delaware  to 

Columbus  138 

From  Columbus  via  Urbana,  Piqua,  Greenville, 

Ri diamond  and  Kingston  to  Indianapolis 188 

From  Indianaolis  via  Lafayette  and  Michigan  City 

to  Chicago 212 

From  Chicago  via  Joliet,  Chenoa  and  Bloomington 

to  Springfield 185 

Total 1,662 

It  is  but  natural  that  the  very  best  that  could  be  written 
would  appear  in  those  papers  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  way 
of  thinking  in  politics ;  but  some  of  the  finest  articles  ap- 
peared in  papers  that  had  always  been  opposed  to  him 
politically.  The  Daily  Register,  a  Democratic  paper  pub- 
lished at  Springfield,  in  its  issue  of  Saturday  evening, 
April  1.5,  1865,  after  relating  the  news  of  the  assassina- 
tion says : 

4 'Just  in  the  hour  when  the  crowning  triumph  of  his 
life  awaited  him:  when  the  result  which  he  had  labored 
and  prayed  for  four  years  with  incessant  toil,  stood 
almost  accomplished,  when  he  could  begin  clearly  to  see 
the  promised  land  of  his  longing— the  restored  Union- 
even  as  Moses  from  the  top  of  Pisgah,  looked  forth  upon 
the  Canaan  he  had  for  forty  years  been  striving  to  attain, 
the  assassin's  hand  puts  a  rude  period  to  his  life  and  to 
his  hopes.  As  Moses  of  old,  who  had  led  God's  people 
through  the  gloom  and  danger  of  the  wilderness,  died 
when  on  the  eve  of  realizing  all  that  his  hopes  had  pic- 


SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.     LINCOLN  MONUMENT 


THE  LINCOLN  MONUMENT. 

Unveiled  and  dedicated  October  15,  1874.     Dimensions, 
feet   by   119^2   feet   square   and   100  feet   high.     Designed   and 
modeled  by  Larkin  E.  Mead.    Cost  $212,000. 

Emblematical  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  standing,  coat  of  arms  with  the  infantry,  navy, 
artillery  and  the  cavalry  marshalled  around  him,  wields  all  for 
holding  the  states  together  in  a  perpetual  bond  of  union,  without 
which  we  could  never  hope  to  effect  the  great  enemy  of  human 
freedom. 


63 

tured,  so  Lincoln  is  cut  off  just  as  the  white  wing  of 
peace  begins  to  reflect  its  silvery  radiance  over  the  red 
billows  of  war.  It  is  hard  for  a  great  man  to  die,  but 
doubly  cruel  that  he  should  be  cut  off  after  such  a  career 
as  that  of  him  whom  we  mourn  to  day. ' ' 

And  the  same  paper  of  April  18th  says : 

"History  has  recorded  no  such  scene  of  bloody  terror. 
The  murder  of  monarchs  has  been  written.  Caesar  was 
slain  in  the  Senate  chamber;  Gustavus  was  butchered  in 
the  ball  room ;  but  these  were  ursurpers  and  tyrants,  not 
the  chosen  heads  of  a  people,  empowered  to  select  their 
rulers.  And,  Oh  horrible !  that  he  should  have  been 
assassinated  when  his  best  efforts  to  tranquilize  the  fears 
and  fury  of  his  people  were  so  nearly  realized.  We  are 
dumb  with  sorrow. ' ' 

The  I]linois  State  Journal,  at  Springfield,  the  oldest 
paper  in  the  state,  north  of  Edwardsville,  was  the  first 
in  which  Lincoln's  name  ever  appeared  in  connection  with 
any  office  —he  having  been  announced  as  a  candidate  for 
Representative  of  Sangamon  county,  in  its  issue  of  March 
15,  1832.  It  was  then  Whig  and  is  now  Republican  in 
politics  and  supported  Lincoln  every  time  he  was  ever  a 
candidate.  The  Daily  Journal  of  Saturday  morning, 
April  15,  1865,  gave  the  telegraphic  announcement  of  his 
assassination,  without  comment.  Monday  morning,  the 
17th,  it  said : 

11  Abraham  Lincoln  is  dead."  These  portentious  words 
as  they  sped  over  the  wires  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land  on  Saturday  morning  last,  sent  a 
thrill  of  agony  through  millions  of  loyal  hearts,  and 
shrouded  a  nation,  so  lately  rejoicing  in  the  hour  of 
victory,  in  the  deepest  sorrow.  The  blow  came  at  a  mo- 
ment so  unexpected  and  was  so  sudden  and  staggering— 
the  crime  by  which  he  fell  was  so  atrocious  and  the  man- 
ner of  it  so  revolting,  that  men  were  unable  to  realize  the 
fact  that  one  of  the  purest  citizens,  the  noblest  of  patriots, 
the  most  beloved  and  honored  of  presidents,  the  most 


64 

forebearing  and  magnanimous  of  rulers,  had  perished  at 
the  hands  of  an  assassin.  The  horrofying  details  recalled 
only  the  scenes  of  blood  which  have  disgraced  barbaric 
ages.  People  were  unwiling  to  believe  that,  in  our  own 
time,  there  could  be  found  men  capable  of  a  crime  so 
utterly  fiendish  and  brutal.  And  yet  this  is 

called  chivalry. 

President  Lincoln  died  at  the  hand  of  slavery.  It  was 
slavery  that  conceived  the  fearful  deed.  It  was  slavery 
that  sought  and  found  the  willing  instrument  and  sped 
the  fatal  ball ;  it  is  slavery  alone  that  will  justify  the  act. 
Henseforth  men  will  lok  upon  slavery  as  indeed  'the  sum 
of  all  villanies." 

The  same  paper  of  Saturday  morning,  the  22d,  says : 
"A  week  ago  this  morning  the  intelligence  first  startled 
the  nation  that  a  crime  of  the  most  fearful  character  had 
been  perpetrated  in  Washington.  The  spirit  of  our 
honored  and  beloved  president,  the  most  genial,  patient 
and  forebearing  of  men,  but  the  victim  of  the  most 
atrocious  assassination,  was  then  taking  its  flight  to  the 
*  God  who  gave  it. ' 

"One  week  has  passed  and  such  a  week  was  never 
known  in  this  or  any  other  land.  The  popular  sorrow, 
instead  of  abating  by  time,  has  grown  even  more  intense, 
as  the  people  have  been  gradually  enabled  to  comprehend 
the  terrible  facts.  The  heart  of  the  nation  has  been 
moved  as  it  was  never  moved  before.  Every  village  and 
city  of  the  land,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  have 
joined  in  the  most  heartfelt  demonstrations  of  grief  in 
view  of  the  national  loss.  Today  the  sorrowful  cortage 
accompanying  the  remains  of  our  beloved  president  is 
at  last  approaching  the  home  whence,  four  years  ago,  he 
set  out  with  many  misgivings,  but  strong  in  the  sense  of 
duty,  to  assume  the  reins  of  government  to  which  the 
sufferages  of  the  people  had  called  him.  The  eyes  of 
the  whole  nation  are  upon  it,  and  wherever  that  dark  and 


65 

sorrow  burdened  train  appears  it  is  attended  by  the 
lamentations  of  the  people." 

Friday  morning,  the  28th,  the  Journal  announced  the 
death  of  the  assassin  and  said: 

"Retribution,  swift  and  sure,  has  fallen  upon  his 
murderer!  J.  Wilkes  Booth,  the  author  of  that  atrocious 
deed,  lies  as  lifeless  as  Abraham  Lincoln.  It 

is  no  compensation  for  the  loss  to  the  nation  of  such  a 
man  as  Abraham  Lincoln,  that  judgment  has  overtaken 
his  murderer.  The  only  satisfaction  we  feel  is 

that  justice  has  been  done." 

The  Journal  for  Wednesday  morning,  May  3d,  says : 

"  Today  all  that  is  mortal  of  Abraham  Lincoln  comes 
back  to  us  to  be  deposited  among  a  people  with  whom  he 
spent  so  many  years  of  his  life,  and  among  whom  he 
hoped,  his  work  being  done,  to  spend  the  evening  of  his 
days. ' ' 

The  Journal,  Thursday,  May  4th: 

' '  Today  we  lay  him  reverently  to  rest,  amid  the  scenes 
he  loved  so  well.  Millions  will  drop  a  tear  to  his  memory, 
and  future  generations  will  make  pilgrimages  to  his  tomb. 
Peace  to  his  ashes." 


66 


67 


THE  STEALING  OF  THE  BODY. 


In  the  autumn  of  1876,  P.  D.  Tyrrell,  the  chief  operative 
of  the  United  States  secret  service  for  the  district  in 
which  Chicago  is  situated,  had  his  suspicions  that  a  cer- 
tain drinking  saloon  in  that  city  was  a  rendezvous  for 
counterfeiters.  He  could  not  learn  anything  by  going 
there  himself,  because  some  of  the  men  whose  presence 
excited  his  suspicions  knew  him -personally,  and  for  him 
to  appear  would  put  them  on  the  alert.  In  order  to  ob- 
tain the  desired  information,  he  employed  a  young  man, 
unknown  to  those  parties,  and  instructed  him  in  the 
manner  he  should  proceed  to  gain  their  confidence.  He 
was  first  to  convince  them  that  he  was  the  same  kind  of 
man  they  were,  which  he  did,  by  gradual  approaches,  so 
thoroughly  that  they  revealed  to  him  the  fact  that  they 
were  not  only  engaged  in  putting  counterfeit  money  in 
circulation,  but  were  then  preparing  for  a  speculation  on 
a  much  larger  scale.  They  told  him  that  they  expected 
to  steal  the  remains  of  President  Lincoln  from  the  monu- 
ment in  Springfield,  bury  it  in  some  secure  place,  and 
then  disperse,  probably  leave  the  United  States,  and 
watch  the  accounts  in  the  newspapers  for  a  favorable 
time  to  enter  into  negotiations  for  the  return  of  the  body. 
They  expressed  the  utmost  confidence  that  they  could  in 
that  way  obtain  at  least  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
and  the  release  of  a  celebrated  counterfeit  engraver  who 
was  serving  a  ten  years'  sentence  .in  the  Joliet  peniten- 
tiary for  engraving  and  printing  counterfeit  money. 
Wishing  to  avail  themselves  of  the  remarkable  shrewd- 
ness of  the  young  man,  whose  acquaintance  they  were 
thus  forming,  they  proposed  that  if  he  would  join  and 
assist,  he  might  have  a  share  in  the  profits. 


68 

As  he  had  only  started  out  to  obtain  information  about 
their  counterfeiting  operations,  this  discovery  was  quite 
startling  to  him.  He  made  some  pretext  for  time  to  con- 
sider, and  at  the  earliest  opportunity  reported  to  the 
officer  who  employed  him,  and  asked  for  instructions. 
The  officer  then  authorized  and  instructed  him  to  accede 
to  their  proposition,  join  them  and  keep  with  them  in 
every  movement  and  report  to  him  daily,  or  more  fre- 
quently, as  circumstances  seemed  to  indicate.  The  young 
man  did  not  lose  much  time  in  letting  the  conspirators 
know  that  he  would  take  part  with  them.  After  that  he 
was  at  every  meeting  of  the  gang,  numbering  several 
others  besides  the  two  whose  confidence  he  first  gained. 
It  was  at  length  decided  that  the  stealing  should  be  done 
Tuesday  night,  November  7,  1876,  the  night  after  the 
day  on  which  the  presidential  election  was  to  be  held. 

That  time  was  chosen  for  the  reason  that  if  they  were 
seen  out  unusually  late,  each  party  would  be  likely  to 
conclude  that  the  other  was  in  search  of  election  news, 
and  in  that  way  they  hoped  to  disarm  suspicion. 

The  two  conspirators  and  the  young  man  who  had 
been  sent  to  ferret  out  their  counterfeiting  operations,  by 
which  he  was  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  plot,  started 
from  Chicago  at  nine  o  'clock  on  the  evening  of  November 
6th,  by  the  Chicago,  Alton  and  St.  Louis  railroad.  The 
operative  of  the  secret  service  was  kept  fully  posted,  and 
with  two  assistants  boarded  the  rear  sleeping  car  of  the 
same  train  as  it  moved  out  of  the  depot. 

All  parties  arrived  in  Springfield  at  six  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  November  the  7th,  the  train  being  two  hours 
behind  time.  The  day  was  spent  by  the  conspirators  in 
perfecting  their  plans,  and  by  the  operative  of  the  secret 
service  and  his  assistants  by  watching  the  conspirators 
and  perfecting  their  plans  also.  Meanwhile  balloting  for 
president  of  the  United  States  was  going  on  over  the  en- 
tire nation.  At  five  o'clock  that  afternoon  the  train 
brought  two  other  assistant  detectives  from  Chicago,  one 


69 

of  them  an  ex-chief  of  the  United  States  secret  service  for 
the  whole  nation.  There  was  not  a  ray  of  sunshine 
reached  the  earth  in  central  Illinois  that  day,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  the  thick  clouds,  night  came  on  early.  About 
six  o'clock  the  operative  of  the  secret  service,  with  four 
trained  detectives,  including  the  ex-chief,  also  a  reporter 
from  a  Chicago  paper,  approached  the  monument,  two 
miles  north  of  the  city.  They  were  admitted  to  the 
memorial  hall  at  the  south  end  by  the  writer  as  custodian 
of  the  monument.  The  outer  door  was  then  locked  and 
the  entire  party  conducted  through  the  back  door  to  a 
point  where  lights  could  not  be  seen  from  the  outside. 
There  lamps  were  lighted  "and  one  man  placed  inside 
against  the  solid  wall,  opposite  the  sarcophagus  at  the 
north  end  of  the  monument.  He  was  instructed  to  remain 
in  that  position  until  he  heard  sounds  as  if  work  was  be- 
ing done  on  the  sarcophagus.  In  that  event  he  was  to 
find  his  way  back  to  memorial  hall— lighted  lamps  having 
been  placed  as  guides — and  report  to  the  officers.  The 
five  officers  and  the  writer  kept  their  positions,  in  dark- 
ness that  could  almost  be  felt,  from  two  and  a  half  to 
three  hours,  when  footsteps  were  heard  approaching  the 
outer  door,  which  is  closed  by  two  shutters,  one  of  wood 
and  glass,  the  other  of  iron  rods.  Two  men  appeared,  one 
bearing  a  lighted  bull 's  eye,  or  dark  lantern.  They  soon 
found  that  both  doors  were  locked,  and  seemed  satisfied 
that  there  was  not  any  person  about  the  monument. 
They  then  went  around  to  the  north  end,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  distant,  and  by  sawing  and  filing  broke  the 
padlocks  to  the  grated  door  at  the  entrance  to  the  cata- 
comb, and  commenced  taking  the  marble  sarcophagus  to 
pieces.  The  man  who  was  placed  inside  to  listen,  passed 
through  among  the  labyrinth  of  walls  to  memorial  hall, 
and  reported  that  he  could  hear  the  conspirators  at  work 
on  the  sarcophagus.  For  several  minutes  hurried  and 
excited  whisperings  were  going  on  between  the  five  offi- 
cers in  the  hall.  The  writer  was  greatly  puzzled  to  know 
why  they  did  not  go  out  and  move  upon  the  enemy  at 


70 


Levi  Johnson  kept  a  meat  market  in  Springfield  at  the  time 
Lincoln  lived  there  and  furnished  meat  to  the  Lincoln  family  during 
their  stay  in  Springfield. 


71 


once.  It  subsequently  transpired  that  the  officers  never 
expected  to  go  out  on  the  report  of  the  one  who  was 
listening  inside.  Placing  him  there  was  merely  an  extra 
precaution  that  they  might  know  when  the  work  com- 
menced. The  young  man  who  had  discovered  the  plot 
in  Chicago,  was  with  the  conspirators,  under  instructions 
from  the  operative  of  the  secret  service  who  was  in  the 
hall  that  he  was  to  remain  with  the  conspirators  until  the 
door  was  forced  and  they  began  to  work  on  the  sarco- 
phagus. Then  he  was  to  go  round  outside  and  give  a 
signal  at  the  entrance  of  memorial  hall.  The  officers  ex- 
pected then  to  leave  the  hall,  move  quickly  around  to  the 
catacomb  and  capture  the  miscreants  at  their  work. 

Tt  was  afterwards  learned  that  when  the  lock  was 
forced,  and  before  they  commenced  work  on  the  sarco- 
phagus, the  conspirators  pushed  the  young  man  into  a 
corner  of  the  half  circular  catacomb  and  .gave  him  the 
lantern  to  hold.  He  at  once  recognized  the  movement  to 
mean  that  they  would  shoot  him  dead  should  he  attempt 
to  dispose  of  the  light  and  pass  out  of  the  door.  There- 
fore, he  could  no  less  than  to  hold  it  until  they  had  taken 
the  marble  sarcophagus  apart  and  drawn  the  wooden  and 
lead  coffin,  with  the  body  partly  out,  that  they  might  con- 
veniently take  it  up  and  carry  it  away.  The  conspira- 
tors then  stepped  outside  and  started  the  young  man  off 
for  a  horse  and  wagon  to  haul  the  body  away.  They 
agreeing  to  remain  at  the  door  until  his  return.  He  had 
not  secured  a  team,  but  made  them  believe  he  had  one  at 
the  east  gate.  He  started  in  that  direction  as  though  he 
was  going  for  the  team,  but  the  night  was  cloudy  and 
exceedinlgy  dark,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  passed  from 
their  sight,  he  turned  to  the  right,  ran  to  the  door  of 
Memorial  Hall  and  gave  the  signal  agreed  upon.  The 
officers  went  quickly  around,  expecting  to  capture  the 
conspirators,  but  they  had  escaped.  They  were  too 
shrewd  to  remain  at  the  door  of  the  catacomb  lest  others 
might  be  looking  for  them,  and  so  withdrew  about  thirty- 
five  yards  from  the  monument,  and  lay  down  by  a  small 


72 

oak  tree,  from  which  they  saw  the  officers  enter  the  cata- 
comb, and  heard  their  exclamations  of  disappointment. 
They  afterwards  told  the  young  man  that  they  then 
thought  it  would  be  more  prudent  for  them  to  make  their 
escape.  For  ten  days  the  conspirators  could  not  be  found. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  the  young  man  having  retained 
their  confidence,  informed  the  officers  that  the  two  were 
together  at  the  same  drinking  place  where  he  entered  into 
the  scheme  with  them.  The  officers  entered  the  saloon, 
one  or  two  at  a  time,  until  they  were  in  sufficient  force  to 
overpower  and  handcuff  them  in  a  few  seconds.  They 
were  brought  to  Springfield,  tried  and  sent  to  peniten- 
tiary for  one  year.  Only  one  year  because  there  was  no 
law  in  Illinois  that  made  the  stealing  of  a  dead  body  a 
penitentiary  offense.  A  law  was  enacted  and  approved 
May  21,  1879,  which  came  into  force  July  1st  of  the  same 
year,  under  which  a  party  convicted  of  the  crime  is  sub- 
ject to  a  penalty  of  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  ten 
years  in  the  penitentiary. 

After  the  attempt  to  steal  the  body  of  President  Lin- 
coln, in  November,  1876,  it  was  secretly  taken  from  the 
sarcophagus  and  carried  through  Memorial  Hall  to  the 
interior  of  the  monument,  where  it  lay  on  timbers  be- 
tween two  rough  walls  until  November,  1876,  when  it 
was  moved  to  dryer  part  of  the  interior  and  buried.  This 
was  done  for  protection  against  any  other  attempt  that 
might  be  made.  A  few  nights  after  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  in  July,  1882,  her  body  was  secretly  taken  from 
the  crypt  where  it  had  been  publicly  deposited,  and 
buried  by  the  side  of  her  husband.  April  14,  1887,  the 
twenty-second  anniversary  of  the  assassination  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  both  bodies  were  exhumed,  the  coffin  con- 
taining the  remains  of  Lincoln  was  opened,  and  the  body 
was  fully  identified.  Both  bodies  were  then  buried  in  the 
catacomb.  The  history  of  the  attempt  to  steal  the  re- 
mains of  Lincoln  and  the  transactions  of  the  Linclon 
Guard  of  Honor  from  a  separate  volume  will  appear. 


73 


74 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  mottoes  carried  in  pro- 
cession at  the  funeral : 

"With  tears  we  resign  thee 
To  God  and  history." 

"The  purposes  of  the  Almighty  are  perfect  and  must 
prevail. ' ' 

"Our  guiding  star  has  fallen,  our  nation  mourns." 

At  Chicago  four  hundred  colored  citizens  marched  in 
line  bearing  the  mottoes : 

"We  niourn  our  loss"  and  "rest  in  peace  with  the 
nation's  tears." 

Over  the  door  of  the  court  house,  Chicago,  was  the  in- 
scription : 

"Illinois  clasps  to  her  bosom  her  slain  and  glorified 
son." 

Over  the  north  door  was : 

"The  beauty  of  Israel  is  slain  upon  her  high  places." 

There  were  hundreds  of  mottoes  displayed,  of  which 
the  following  are  a  few : 

"In  sorrowing  grief  the  nation's  tears  are  spent. 
Humanity  has  lost  a  friend  and  we  a  president." 

"Bear  him  gently  to  his  rest." 

"We  loved  him  much,  but  now  we  love  him  more." 

"Ours  the  cross— thine  the  crown." 

"Freedom's  noblest  sacrifice." 

Emancipation  Proclamation— "Upon  this  act  I  invoke 
the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind,  and  the  gracious 
favor  of  Almighty  God." 

"To  Union  may  our  heartfelt  call 
And  brotherly  love  attune  us  all." 

1 '  Nations  swell  tliv  funeral  crv. ' ' 


75 

11  Young,  old,  high  and  low, 
The  same  devotion  show." 

6 
"And  over  the  coffin  man  planteth  hope." 

''Though  dead,  yet  he  speaketh." 

"He  won  the  wreath  of  fame, 

And  wrote  on  memory's  scroll  a  deathless  name." 

"Look  how  honor  glorifies  the  dead." 

"Know  ye  not  that  a  great  man  has  fallen  this  day  in 
Israel. ' ' 

"The  great  emancipator." 

"He  left  us  sustained  by  our  prayers. 
He  returns  embalmed  in  our  tears." 

At  Indianapolis  the  colored  Masons,  in  their  appro- 
priate clothing,  and  colored  citizens  generally,  turned  out 
in  procession  and  visited  the  remains  in  a  body.  At  the 
head  of  the  procession  they  carried  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation.  At  intervals  banners  were  seen  bearing 
among  others,  the  following  inscriptions: 

"Colored  men  always  loyal." 

"Lincoln,  martyr  of  liberty." 

"He  lives  in  our  memories." 

"Slavery  is  dead." 

Among  the  mottoes  displayed  at  Michigan  City,  Ind., 
were  the  following: 

"Noblest  martyr  to  freedom,  sacred  thy  dust,  hallowed 
thy  resting  place." 


76 


Annie  Wilson  Vantrice  was  a  school  girl  at  the  time  of  Lincoln's 
burial ;  she  sang  at  his  funeral. 


77 


COLORED  PEOPLE  AT  LINCOLN'S  FUNERAL. 


At  the  time  of  Lincoln's  death  there  was  a  great  many 
colored  people  scattered  throughout  the  north.  Tliese 
had  been  away  from  slavery  long  enough  to  make  some 
degree  of  progress  in  education  and  advancement.  In  all 
the  large  cities  of  the  north  they  had  formed  Masonic 
lodges  from  the  charter  they  had  obtained  from  the 
Grand  Master  of  England.  In  every  city  where  public 
funerals  were  held,  these  lodges  turned  out  in  full  regalia. 

In  Washington  at  the  time  of  the  assassination  there 
was  gathered  a  great  many  colored  troops  waiting  for  the 
grand  review.  While  the  body  lay  in  state  in  the  White 
House,  members  of  the  United  States  colored  cavalry 
were  placed  on  guard. 

The  funeral  was  held  in  the  capitol  and  the  long  pro- 
cession was  led  by  a  detachment  of  colored  troops. 
Hundreds  of  colored  people  brought  up  the  rear  of  the 
procession. 

At  the  station,  where  the  funeral  cortege  boarded  the 
train  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  old  home  in  Springfield,  Illinois, 
was  two  thousand  colored  troops  drawn  up  in  line  beside 
the  track.  They  stood  with  arms  reversed  and  heads 
bowed  and  we  eping  like  children  at  the  death  of  a  father. 
Their  grief  was  of  such  undoubted  sincerity  as  to  effect 
the  whole  vast  multitude.  Dignified  governors  of  states, 
grave  senators  and  scarworn  army  officers,  who  had 
passed  through  scenes  of  bloodshed  unmoved,  lost  their 
self  control  and  melted  to  tears  in  the  presence  of  such 
unaffected  sorrow. 

In  New  York  City  five  thousand  colored  people  had 
made  arrangements  to  march  in  funeral  procession,  but 


78 

the  city  authorities  gave  them  to  understand  that  their 
presence  was  not  desired.  "When  the  committee  on 
funeral  arrangements  heard  of  this  they  sent  out  mes- 
sages to  the  colored  people  urging  them  to  turn  out  and 
told  them  they  should  have  every  protection,  but  only 
three  hundred  answered  the  call. 

In  Philadelphia  where  the  body  rested  in  Independence 
Hall,  an  old  colored  woman  approached  the  committee  of 
arrangements  with  a  large  wreath  in  her  hand  and  with 
tears  in  her  eyes  requested  that  it  might  be  placed  on  the 
coffin.  When  her  request  was  granted  her  countenance 
beamed  with  satisfaction.  The  wreath  bore  this  inscrip- 
tion: "The  nation  mourns  his  loss;"  "he  still  lives  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people." 

The  banner  carried  by  the  colored  people  had  been 
prepared  by  the  ladies  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  church 
and  was  inscribed  on  one  side:  "Abraham  Lincoln,  our 
Emancipation,"  on  the  other  side,  "To  millions  of  bonds- 
men he  liberty  gave."  This  banner  was  carried  by  four 
freedmen  just  from  the  south. 

In  Springfield  the  colored  Free  Masons  and  school 
children  turned  out  in  procession  and  a  long  line  of 
colored  people  stood  at  the  entrance  of  the  cemetery  and 
as  the  hearse  passed  them  bearing  the  body  of  the  dead 
President,  they  fell  on  their  knees  in  the  muddy  street. 
It  was  their  farwell  to  Lincoln. 

When  the  first  call  was  made  for  contributions  toward 
the  building  of  a  monument  for  the  great  leader,  the 
colored  people  were  the  first  to  respond.  A  colored  Sun- 
day school  in  Cairo  was  among  the  first  to  respond  The 
colored  soldiers,  not  yet  disbanded,  gave  large  sums, 
large  for  them.  The  73rd  Regiment  United  States 
colored  troops,  sent  $1,437,  a  larger  amount  than  was  sent 
by  any  other  individual  or  organization,  except  the  state 
of  Illinois.  An  aged  colored  woman.  Charlotte  Scott, 
who  had  received  her  freedom  by  the  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation, was  living  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  when  President 


James  Young  was  steward  at  the  Leland  in  Springfield  at  the 
time  of  the  attempt  to  steal  Lincoln's  body.  After  the  attempt, 
the  casket  containing  the  body  was  opened  and  the  state  officials 
and  monument  association  viewed  the  remains,  so  they  might  be 
able  to  say  that  it  contained  Lincoln's  body.  By  special  invita- 
tion, Mr.  Young  accompanied  them,  and  was  the  last  colored  man 
to  look  upon  the  face  of  Lincoln. 


80 

Lincoln  was  assassinated.  She  at  once  said,  "The  colored 
people  have  lost  their  best  friend  on  earth.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  our  best  friend  and  I  will  give  five  dollars  of  my 
wages  toward  building  a  monument."  This  circumstance 
being  related  in  the  Missouri  Democrat  of  May  2,  1865, 
caused  more  than  sixteen  thousand  dollars  to  be  raised 
by  the  colored  people.  The  fund  was  held  in  St.  Louis 
by  Hon.  James  E.  Yeatman  for  several  years,  but  was 
pledged  to  the  National  Lincoln  Monument  Association 
at  Washington  City. 

When  the  monument  was  finished,  it  was  dedicated 
October  15,  1874,  and  the  body  of  Lincoln  was  laid  to  rest 
in  the  place  that  had  been  prepared  for  him.  The  exer- 
cises were  opened  by  Bishop  Wayman  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
church.  He  came  from  Baltimore  to  be  present  on  the 
occasion,  by  special  invitation  by  Governor  John  L. 
Palmer. 

When  the  news  of  Lincoln's  death  reached  the  outside 
world,  condolences  came  in  from  countries  far  and  near ; 
from  China,  Japan  and  the  gold  coast  of  Africa.  From 
the  islands  of  the  sea.  All  nations  and  people  were  for 
once  in  accord,  each  and  all  expressed  deep  sorrow  at  the 
untimely  death  of  the  great  emancipator.  As  a  sample 
of  the  many  condolences  received  from  the  colored  people 
of  other  lands,  we  quote  three  of  the  six  resolutions  from 
Liberia : 

Resolved,  By  the  President  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia 
and  his  cabinet,  in  council,  that  it  is  withsincere  regret 
and  pain,  as  well  as  with  feelings  of  horror  and  indigna- 
tion, the  government  of  Liberia  has  heard  of  the  foul 
assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  late  President  of  the 
United  States. 

Resolved,  That  the  government  and  people  of  Liberia 
deeply  sympathize  with  the  government  and  people  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  sad  loss  they  have  sustained  by  the 
death  of  so  wise,  so  just,  so  efficient,  so  vigorous  and  yet 
so  merciful  a  ruler. 


Norsis  Donnegan  was  for  many  years  laundress  at  the  Lincoln 
home.  Fifty  cents  was  the  price  of  a  day's  work  in  those  days, 
but  Lincoln  thought  the  work  worth  more  than,  that,  so  every 
week  he  waited  for  Norsis  on  her  way  home  and  gave  her  an 
extra  quarter. 

When  the  newly  elected  president  left  Springfield  for  Washing- 
ton, she  delivered  to  them  a  dozen  new  shirts  that  Lincoln  had 
had  made  to  order.  No  doubt  he  was  buried  in  one  of  those 
very  shirts.  The  mother  of  the  Donnegans,  Mrs.  Knox,  was  a 
friend  of  Mrs.  Lincoln 's  people  in  Kentucky. 


82 

Resolved,  That  while  with  due  sorrow  the  government 
and  people  of  Liberia  weep  with  those  who  mourn  the 
loss  of  so  good  and  great  a  chief,  they  are,  nevertheless, 
mindful  of  the  loss  they  themselves  have  experienced  in 
the  death  of  the  great  philanthropist  whose  virtues  can 
never  cease  to  be  told  as  long  as  the  Republic  of  Liberia 
shall  endure ;  so  long  as  there  survives  a  member  of  the 
negro  race  to  tell  of  the  chains  that  have  been  broken,  of 
the  griefs  that  have  been  allayed,  of  the  broken  hearts 
that  have  been  bound  up  by  him  who,  as  it  were  a  new 
creation,  breathed  life  into  four  millions  of  that  race 
whom  he  found  oppressed  and  degraded. ' ' 

While  the  colored  people  had  sentered  all  their  hopes 
on  Lincoln  and  anxiously  watched  his  every  move,  there 
were  others  who  were  devoting  their  lives  to  the  great 
abolition  movement.  Sumner  in  the  Senate  was  giving 
his  whole  time  and  attention  to  the  civil  rights  bill  and 
other  measures  that  would  in  some  measure  ameliorate 
the  black  man's  conditions.  Lovejoy,  of  Illinois,  gave  up 
his  life  for  the  same  principle;  John  Brown  went  to  a 
disgraceful  death  because  of  his  freedom  theories.  Each 
one  who  came  to  the  front  as  a  leader  had  a  large  follow- 
ing. These  were  sure  that  they  were  right,  but  they  had 
only  one  view  point,  and  that  was  to  free  the  slaves  at 
any  price.  They  were  extremists  who  could  see  no  gain 
in  waiting.  They  beseiged  the  White  House  with  advice 
and  petitions.  There  was  even  delegatians  ffom  foreign 
countries.  But  Mr.  Lincoln,  better  versed  in  international 
law,  knew  that  to  free  the  slaves  in  the  earlier  years  of 
the  war  would  be  placing  the  north  in  the  wrong  and 
giving  the  south  a  chance  to  enlist  England  and  possibly 
other  foreign  countries  as  her  allies.  He  knew  that  the 
hour  had  not  come.  With  the  fate  of  the  Union  and  fu- 
ture welfare  of  seventy  milions  of  people  resting  on  him, 
he  would  not,  could  not  be  precipitate  amid  the  storm  of 
conflicting  opinions  that  met  him  at  every  turn.  He 
steered  a  straight  course  and  came  out  at  last  victorious. 


AVilliam  Donnegan  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  Spring- 
field, and  was  well  thought  of  by  the  better  class  of  white  people. 
In  his  younger  days  he  was  an  expert  shoemaker  and  made  many 
pairs  of  shoes  for  the  president.  He  was  the  only  shoemaker  in 
town  who  could  fit  Mr.  Lincoln's  feet,  which  were  not  mates. 

He  was  killed  by  the  mob  in  his  own  house  where  his  widow 
still  lives. 


84 


JC 
— 
05 


85 


Joseph  Loman  was  for  many  years  a  servant  in  the  Grand 
Central  hotel  in  Chicago. 

During  Mrs.  Lincoln's  long  sojourn  at  that  hotel,  Joe  waited 
on  her.  He  was  the  only  servant  that  she  would  have.  "When 
displeased  with  him  she  would  ask  him  if  he  remembered  who 
freed  him.  Joe  would  look  at  her  with  tears  in  his  eyes  and 
say,  ''Mrs.  Lincoln,  I  can't  never  forget  who  freed  me." 


Augustus  Johnson- was  a  soldier  in  the  civil  war.  He  belonged 
to  the  8th  Heavy  Artillery,  "Co.  H."  He,  with  others,  stood 
guard  over  the  murdered  president,  for  which  service  he  is  pre- 
sented with  a  medal  each  year  by  the  state  fair  officials. 


86 

To  the  south  Lincoln  represented  the  whole  north.  He, 
plainer  than  any  other  man,  had  told  them  of  their  sins 
and  was  hated  and  feared  accordingly. 

Tt  was  from  hearing  the  white  folks  talk  that  the  colored 
people  learned  to  look  on  him  as  their  friend  and  to  re- 
gard Mm  as  their  only  hope  of  salvation.  From  the  very 
first  they  have  been  ready  at  all  times  to  show  their  love, 
loyalty  and  veneration  for  the  name  and  memory  of  Lin- 
coln, indeed,  so  deep  is  this  feeling  in  the  hearts  of  some 
of  them,  they  feel  it  no  sacrilige  when  they  think  it  was 
Christ  himself  who  came  out  from  the  mysterious  ob- 
scurity and  gave  his  life  anew  to  save  them. 


87 


LINCOLN  THE  SEER. 


Perhaps  the  greatest  event  in  history,  ancient  and  modern,  was 
the  liberating  of  the  slaves.  The  transition  from  the  depths  of 
slavery  to  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  citizenship  was  a 
change  frought  with  many  dangers. 

The  Abolition  party,  a  small  minority,  was  looked  upon  as 
fanatics  and  criminals.  John  Brown  payed  for  his  freedom 
theories  with  his  life. 

To  free  the  slave  was  a  dream,  dear  to  the  heart  of  Lincoln. 
Even  though  this  is  true,  he  was  slow  to  make  use  of  the  oppor- 
tunity that  came  to  him.  He  had  treasured  this  thought  all  his 
life,  yet  at  the  last  moment  while  he  waited  pen  in  hand  he  plead, 
"Come  back,  come  back."  This  phrase  of  his  showed  the  true 
brotherhood,  fatherhood  and  real  humanity  that  were  the  greatest 
characteristics  of  the  great  emancipator. 

Of  those  who  laughed  at  his  quaint  sayings  or  who  found  fault 
with  him  because  of  his  eeming  disregard  of  serious  questions, 
few  realized  that  there  was  often  a  world  of  meaning  in  his 
"jokes." 

One  Saturday  night  he  went  into  the  barbership  of  Preston 
Donnegan  to  be  shaved.  He  was  well  known  to  the  colored 
man  who  had  listened  to  many  of  his  speeches  and  had  come  to 
regard  him  as  a  real  friend  of  the  race.  When  Donnegan  had 
finished  shaving  him  and  was  brushing  the  future  president's  hat 
and  coat,  he  asked,  "Mr.  Lincoln,  if  you  were  to  be  president  of 
this  here  United  States,  would  you  free  the  slaves  ? ' '  Mr.  Lincoln 
answered,  "Why,  Preston,  I  thought  you  knew  that  if  were  presi- 
dent and  a  bill  to  free  the  slaves  came  up  before  me,  I  would  be 
the  last  man  to  sign  it."  He  put  on  his  hat  and  walked  out,  leav- 
ing the  barber  very  downcast. 

A  week  later  he  went  back  for  another  shave.  There  was  a 
decided  chill  in  Mr.  Donnegan 's  manner  and  he  was  vey  deliber- 
ate in  his  movements.  But  the  shaving  and  brushing  were 


88 

finally  accomplished,  then  he  said  in  a  tone  that  showed  how 
deeply  he  was  hut,  "I  don't  like  you  as  well  as  I  did,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln.'1 "Why,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "What  is  the  matter,  Preston?" 
"I'll  tell  yon,"  answered  Preston,  "You  said  the  other  day  that 
if  you  was  president  you  wouldn't  free  us  poor  colored  folks." 
Lincoln  explained  to  him  that  a  bill  must  go  to  the  president  to 
sign  before  it  becomes  a  law. 

Forty  years  may  bring  about  many  changes,  but  the  most  san- 
guine could  hardly  have  foreseen  the  very  remarkable  difference 
in  thought,  feeling  and  conditions  of  that  day  and  this. 

Those  of  the  south,  who  felt  only  hatred  and  aversion  for  the 
man  who  opposed  them,  have  come  to  share  with  the  north  in 
the  feeling  of  love  and  veneration  that  is  expressed  everywhere 
for  the  great  president. 

They  have  a  clearer  understanding  of  those  words  that  were 
the  keynote  of  Lincoln's  life.  "With  malice  toward  none,  but 
charity  for  all." 

As  the  years  pass  they  will  be  more  and  more  ready  to  ac- 
knowledge that  Lincoln  was  every  man's  friend. 

When  President  Lincoln  took  the  responsibility  of  freeing  the 
slaves,  did  he  look  forward  with  true  prophecy  and  see  the 
colored  man  come  up  from  the  cotton  fields  and  sugar  plantations 
of  the  southland  and  take  his  place  in  the  grand  processional 
of  the  ages,  still  willing  as  he  had  always  been  to  share  the  white 
man's  burden. 

From  a  life  long  study  of  the  negro  character,  Lincoln  was 
better  able,  perhaps,  to  judge  a  people  that  offered  so  many  con- 
tradictory traits.  He  looked  beneath  the  surface  and  saw  a  truer 
manhood,  a  more  earnest,  devoted  womanhood  than  would  seem 
possible  to  one  who  looked  only  on  the  surface. 

It  is  true  that  Lincoln  had  little  opportunity  to  know  the  negro 
under  other  environments  than  slavery,  but  early  in  life  he  had 
formed  his  opinion  regarding  this  iniquitous  system  that  was  so 
degrading  to  white  and  black  alike.  To  Lincoln,  who  was  the 
very  soul  of  truth,  there  was  something  especially  revolting  in 
the  idea  of  America's  posing  as  the  land  of  the  free,  yet  have 
within  her  borders  five  million  slaves  which,  tho'  confined  te  one 
section,  were  fast  reaching  out  and  threatening  to  invade  the 
whole  land. 

To  Lincoln  war  and  slavery  was  not  a  new  thought,  but  no 
just  and  thinking  man  will  doubt  for  a  moment  that  Lincoln's 
first  and  dearest  wish  was  for  the  Union,  rather  than  freedom. 


89 

Still,  one  may  readily  realize  that  at  first  faintly,  then  more 
and  more  clearly,  he  heard  the  same  voice  bidding  him  "go  for- 
ward." As  the  commander  in  chief  of  a  great  army  and  navy 
he  found  himself  an  arbitrator  who  should  decide  the  destiny  of 
a  gre«at  nation,  who,  north  and  south,  east  and  west,  were  his  own 
people.  So  wisely  and  so  well  he  performed  the  duties  of  his 
sacred  office  that  the  nations  of  the  earth  have  come  to  regard 
with  wonder  and  admiration  the  American  people  Avho  have 
buried  all  differences  and  met  as  blood  brothers  at  the  grave  of 
the  beloved  Lincoln,  who,  in  the  storm  and  stress  of  battle,  looked 
forward  to  this  day  of  reconciliations. 


